A wizarding family
by tecachan
Summary: AU. The worst of fates has befallen the Dursley's: Dudley Dursley is a wizard. In a reality where both cousins are magical people, the life of one young Harry Potter comes about a bit different. Bad!Dumbledore, Drarry
1. 1 - A letter from Hogwarts

A wizarding family

Summary: AU. The worst of fates has befallen the Dursley's: Dudley Dursley is a wizard. In a reality where both cousins are magical people, the life of one young Harry Potter comes about a bit different.

Warnings: For future reference, this story will eventually evolve to the use of inappropriate language when the characters reach a certain age (most likely 13~14) because that's just how teenagers evolve. Also, we'll have a bit of explicit violence from the get go, and also later on from flashbacks. For sex, I don't intend to make any detailed scenes, even if there will be some hinting and maybe, sometimes, a bit explicit scene, but that's for the far away future. Mild bashing for Dumbledore, Molly and McGonagall. Somewhat-sane Voldemort. There WILL BE slash sometime in the future for some characters, Harry WILL discover he likes boys.

A/N: This will most likely cover the seven years of school life and have an epilogue on the afterwards, although I don't plan on make this into a huge story I tend to write too much for my own good. I write this for my own amusement, as such this story mostly caters to the way **I** like things. If we think anything alike you probably like this, if not... well that's it.

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1 - A letter from Hogwarts

If there was one thing the Dursley's were was normal, at least that was what they liked to think. They sure put effort into being normal. They had an utterly normal house, used normal clothes, ate normal food, the outings were normal, the car was normal, the patriarch's job was normal, the furniture, pictures, hobbies... Everything: Normal.

On a normal Saturday in early June, one particular letter arrived for one Mr Dudley Dursley with the day's mail post. It wasn't normal that a letter is addressed to a child, unless, of course, it was the letter they were expecting from Smeltings Academy, an acceptance letter for Dudley from Mr Dursley's alma mater. The envelope was not what Mr Dursley expected, but that's easily explained by the years he was out of school. Dudley didn't even care about that the envelope was not normal enough, he snatched it from his cousin's hands and proceeded to open and read it out loud.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL _of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

( _Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_

 _Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards_ )

Dear _Mr Dursley_ ,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

While Mrs Dursley almost fainted at the first line, Mr Dursley changed colours to purple, and even more purple, as the letter was read.

"What is this? Some kind of joke?" Dudley was confused since magic was not real.

"YOU!" Screamed Mr Dursley at the young and scrawny boy that had the misfortune of delivering the mail. "YOU PASSED YOUR FREAKISHNESS ONTO MY SON!" Mr Dursley slapped the boy across the face with so much force that he was thrown in the air and hit the wall of the kitchen. He went over the boy again and grabbed him by the collar shaking him and trying to pin the boy to the wall, wich caused his head to bobble back and forth harshly and hit the wall every time it went back. "IT'S YOUR FAULT, YOU FREAK!" He yelled as he threw the boy again, only this time he hit a cabinet near where his wife and son were.

"I'LL MAKE IT SO YOU CAN'T INFECT GOOD NORMAL PEOPLE ANYMORE!" Mr Dursley yelled again as took off his belt and aimed the buckle so it would hit the boy as well.

"Vernon, please..." Mrs Dursley tried to calm him down, but was shrugged off easily and almost fell from the force of it. Vernon went on his ranting about freaks and why they didn't deserve to live all the while lashing at the little boy with his belt and when the boy tried to move to flee also broke a chair on him.

Dudley was not confused anymore, he didn't even remember why everything was happening or how it started. He was, to say the least, shocked at his father's behaviour. Never before had Dudley seen him react that way to anything. He was going to kill Harry. What would happen then? "Dad..." He tried.

At the sound of his son's voice, Vernon let go of a beaten up Harry and turned to his wife and son huddled up together. "Don't worry son. Dad will make the freakishness go away." He had a dangerous glint in his eyes that made both Petunia and Dudley tremble in fear. He lashed at his son.

Petunia tried her hardest to get Vernon off her son, but he turned and lashed out at her too. He punched her in the face when she tried to hold his arm down making her end up on the floor near her nephew. Vernon continued to beat her son up the way he had her nephew. She crawled away to the living room in the hopes of getting help. At eat cry of pain from her son a new piece of her heart broke. Finally catching a glimpse of the phone, she dialled the police praying they would arrive in time.

The attendant greeted her and with a sigh of relief she whispered her ordeal. "Please, help me. My h-husband has gone m-mad. H-He beat my n-nephew and my s-son. W-When I t-tried to s-s-stop him, he p-p-punched m-me."

"We'll be sending a unity your way ma'am. What is address?" The attendant seemed concerned over the screams she could clearly hear from the other side of the line.

"Thank you. Thank you. It's Number Four, Private Drive. It's in Little Whinging, Surrey. Please come fast, I'll leave the door unlocked." Petunia seemed somewhat relieved knowing help was on the way and left the phone to try again to help her boys.

"Help is on the way, ma'am. Ma'am?" hearing a soft thud, likely from the phone being put down, the attendant tried to reach the woman again to no avail.

At the sight of Vernon's arm going up again for another lashing, Petunia threw herself over her whimpering son on the floor to take the beating instead of him. Vernon was too far gone to notice right away the obstacle. "Petunia, get out of the way. I'm trying to fix our son!" The unhinged man was puffing madly.

"Leave my baby alone, there's nothing wrong with him!" Petunia dragged her son near her nephew, who couldn't move away for the life of him and proceeded to stand between them and Vernon.

Something clicked in Vernon's mind and he watched her horrified. "This... This is your fault! Your sister was a freak and so is your son! YOU MADE MY SON A FREAK!" and then he started to aim the beating at her. Petunia stood her ground and took all the blows hoping help would arrive soon.

When the police officers arrived they were shocked by the scene before their eyes. A bloodied and broken kitchen. Two kids holding onto each other for dear life. A woman being beaten senseless by a huge large man, and said man not listening to their instructions. One of them went behind the big man and knocked him out with the back of his gun. Another went to call the paramedics in to see to the woman and the kids.

Realising the blows had stopped, Petunia peeked out and almost cried in relief seeing the officers taking Vernon away and the paramedics coming to tend to her children. The three of them were directed outside to enter the ambulance and go to the hospital for the proper examinations and treatment. On the way she spotted an inconspicuous owl perched on her fence, somehow she found enough willpower within her to go back into the house despite the protests from the doctors and procure the letter that started it all. She signed confirming Dudley as a future Hogwarts' student and sent it away with the owl. After seeing the owl fly off Petunia entered the ambulance where her boys were still attached to each other.

"Everything will be fine, you hear me. We'll be just fine. I promise." She hugged the boys trying to assure them they were indeed going to be alright as much as her own self.


	2. 2 - New Directions

A/N: Thank you for the reviews, follows and favs. I was actually surprised with them, and how quickly someone came across with this story.

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2 - New Directions

The three of them spent a few weeks in the hospital not only due to the physical injuries but also for the mental ones. At first Petunia and her boys were put into different wards, the pediatric ward was on a different floor, but even with visits from her the kids always became restless and it hindered their recovery. Petunia was also affected by the visiting since she actually did those against the doctor's orders to stay put, lest she opened the deeper cuts on her back. So Petunia had been transferred to the boys' room. They tried their hardest to not think about it. Tried to only think about being safe, recovering.

Somehow none of their bones was broken. A couple fractured ones between Petunia and Harry since they caught the worst blows, but nothing that wouldn't heal. Most likely there would be scars, though they could be hidden under their clothes the reminders were still there. Reminders of what happened, and of what could have happened.

When all three received a clear bill of health and were deemed well enough to go home it was already July. On the way home there wasn't much talk between them, but Petunia always had her eyes alert and her close presence seemed to do good for the boys. Her thoughts on what would the state of the house be as well as on her children's welfare and how to better it.

Upon reaching the house's doorstep Petunia steeled herself for what was to come, but nothing prepared her for the onslaught of memories flooding her and the children's mind once they reached the living room and could clearly see the kitchen and a pool of dried blood beside the remains of a bloodied broken chair. Everything was still there, all the proof of a reality worse them nightmares. Not that the kids couldn't _dream up_ something worse, Petunia was about to have even more trouble.

As she clutched the trembling boys in a hug to stop them from prolonging the sight, she thought of sending them to rest a bit in their rooms only to remember Harry's room. Stiffened and almost paralysed in place she glanced at the cupboard, Harry's _room_ , and another reality slapped her in the face. How could she treat a child that way? How could she let Vernon treat the boy that way? He was her nephew, her blood, her family, her last link to her sister. When had she turned into such a thing that she began to hate a child that had done nothing but obey and love her? Why? Why not even a room? As each and every thought crossed her mind she tightened her hold on her nephew noticing how thin he was. Not thin, scrawny. Why? How, why did she let it get to this point? "I'm sorry." She said beginning to tear up, her throat constricting like a lump in there wouldn't let her say anything more.

"Mum...?" Dudley was confused. And even more than him, Harry was too. He couldn't even phantom why his aunt would apologise to him. At least he thought it was meant to him as she was looking him right in the eye with something that wasn't quite pity, regret?

Any lump be damned, Petunia had to put some of this out. "Sorry, Harry. The way I-we treated you was not right. I should never have let you work so much." She was in tears and hiccuping a little. A hand brushing gently at Harry's hair and face while the other drew soothing circles on Dudley's back.

"I-It's okay, aunt Petunia. It's not your fault." Harry definitely didn't know how to react to that so he blurted the first thing that came to mind. Never before in his short life had the boy been apologised to, and tears? And that gentle touch he craved so much growing up? He couldn't stop himself from leaning into the touch, it was already too late when he became aware of what he was doing. He could only steel himself and prepare for the blow.

Getting up Petunia placed a kiss on the top of her nephew's head and then one on her son's head. "Now boys you both go to your rooms and rest a bit. Harry, the guest room is now yours so take your things there. I'll call you two when dinner's ready. Now, off with you." she shooed them with an even more pained heart at remembering Harry's _things_.

While Petunia worked to put the house to some degree of normality thinking how good it was that they had a quick early lunch on the way home so she actually had some time to clean up the mess a little, two boys had to deal with a few hours to themselves and their thoughts.

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Harry stood in the middle of the guest room still not knowing what to do. Aunt Petunia told him this was his room now, but this was too big. Why would anyone need so much space? Well, Dudley had two bedrooms, one solely for toys, and it didn't seem enough... But this was much bigger than his cupboard. He even brought his makeshift cot up, but there was already a bed there. Where to put it then? Looking around he put it in a corner away from the other things in the room lest he broke anything and his luck streak finished and sat down.

Luck... That seemed to sum the day and the last few weeks. All the hug and gentle touches from Aunt Petunia were highly addictive, he couldn't help but want more. He knew one shouldn't be greedy, then again what was he supposed to do? He was becoming a bad person just like his good for nothing parents. He was taking advantage of his aunt when she was blaming herself for everything. It's not her fault... It's his fault, right? Always harry's fault... But those hugs...

The boy fell asleep dreaming about hugs and a better life where he made his aunt proud of him. Meanwhile, another boy had a bit more difficult time with his alone moments...

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If one paid enough attention, it was possible to hear the telltale of a crying Dudley. So much had happened, he didn't even know what exactly. First, his father freaked out and was so crazed he beat _him and his mother_ beside beating his cousin. Dad never acted like that. He said he was fixing him, but there was nothing wrong with him. He was the same Dudley as always, his mum said so too. Why didn't his dad believe them? They never lied to dad before... Well, he did, but it was just putting the blame of something on the freak. There's nothing wrong with that, right?

Mum said everything would be okay, but he watched _a lot_ of telly. He knew that when the police took someone away they wouldn't come back. The police took his father away and dad always said that the police were always right and only good for nothing people like Harry's parents were taken by them, so why did they take his dad away? Dad was just angry. It's not like he always acted that way... Well, there was this one time he saw him hit Harry _really_ hard and throw him in his cupboard. But that's not wrong, right?

He even dreamed once that it was _him_ being thrown in the cupboard by his father; that night his mum even slept in the same bed as him in the hospital. It was a tough month. Being in the same room with Harry at night was really hard, his cousin had even more nightmares than he did; he never screamed, though, but Dudley was a smart child and he knew the silent whimpering was from nightmares. Mum and the doctors were worried about pain, but Dudley knew better: Harry was just trying to get mum's attention.

Maybe his cousin did some freak stuff with father. Father would never be tricked by his cousin. Dudley had to protect mum from his cousin, he couldn't let the same thing that happened to father happen to mum. What would Dudley do without his mum? He had to make her see it was his cousin's fault.

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Petunia was almost finished with dinner, only the meatballs needed a few more minutes in the boiling sauce and the simple pasta she prepared for dinner would be ready. When she went outside to throw away the living room rug and the broken things from the kitchen she noticed an owl perched near the trash bin. Now that she thought about it there was one like that on that fateful day, the one she sent Dudley's Hogwarts letter away with, this one should be for her nephew. Of course Harry was a wizard. That much she always knew, that's why it was such a surprise to know her own son was one as well. She went through the accumulated mail, found the letter, signed it and dispatched it away with the owl. The last thing she needed now was even more attention from the neighbours than she already had. On her way back inside she called the boys down for dinner and then went to set the table and turn off the stove.

Dudley arrived first in the kitchen as always. "Mum. Can't we send Harry away?"

"Sweetie?" Petunia blinked owlishly at her son and nephew, who had just arrived at the kitchen. Both couldn't understand where that came from, though Harry was not surprised since he actually asked himself the same at least a thousand times before.

"Mum, he did something I'm sure. F-Father would never do what he did, right?"

"I-I did nothing, Aunt Petunia. I swear, please." Harry knew that if he wasn't taken in by the Dursley's he would be at an orphanage and Uncle Vernon did tell him _those_ places were bad.

Petunia sighed. Better do it at once lest her son turned out like Vernon. "I know Harry. If anyone is to blame, that's me." Both boys were shaking their heads vigorously at that. "Now, sit down boys. I'll try and explain a bit of I know. Maybe that will help." She helped the boys serve themselves. Harry was still fidgeting a bit being sat at the table with the family, one more thing for her to work on.

"Before anything I want you both to know that magic _is_ real." She held a hand up to stop them from saying anything. "Yes, it is true. Magic exists and you both are wizards. You have magic, just like your mother Harry. My sister Lily was a witch, she had magic. One day she received a letter, just like the one each of you did, inviting her to study at Hogwarts. That's a school where they teach... magic."

"But I didn't receive any letter." Harry protested. Petunia handed each their respective letter proving that indeed he had.

"Yours arrived either today or when we were away, dear." Harry sat up straighter at the endearment and Dudley was confused.

"But f-father said-" He started already half believing his mum.

"Vernon knew about magic too. He, much like myself, wanted to ignore it and treat it like some kind of freakishness. I admit I was a bit jealous of Lily, she had magic and I didn't. It was hard for a young me to understand that. My- Our parents were so proud to have a witch in the family and Lily was always their perfect daughter..." At the look on Harry's face that she couldn't for the life of her understand she stopped that line of thought. "Sorry. I was ranting."

Harry shook his head, he could understand that feeling too well. Dudley though wanted to hear a bit more about magic. "But how do we do magic? Why does everyone think it's not real?"

Petunia thought a bit about how to answer that and took out and served the ice cream they bought on the way home before doing so. "I don't really know how you can do magic, sweetie. I remember that Lily had to use this wood stick, she swished and flicked and did a few other strange movements with it and things happened. There was also this cauldron where she put things inside and said she was making potions. She said it was a bit like cooking, she made this foul tasting _potion_ once for dad's pain and he said it worked." At the mention of cooking Harry perched up and Dudley scrunched his face.

"There was this place where she had to go to buy her school _things_. You had to enter this really shabby place and the wall opened up to a street with magic stores. I think the most strange was that they took the train for school at King's Cross Station. You had to go through a wall to get to the platform." she said remembering that she was actually fascinated with everything magical once.

"But, mum, weren't Harry's parents good for nothing drunks?" Dudley asked actually innocently.

At that, Harry looked pensive. "He's right, Aunt Petunia. Uncle Vernon said-"

Sighing she interrupted the boys before Vernon's words destroyed everything again. "That was a lie. Vernon, and I, didn't want to talk about magic. Lily met your father at Hogwarts, dear. Your father was a wizard too. I don't know how your parents actually died, Harry. The only thing I heard from Lily was that there was some kind of war going on at the time. By the time you were born I wasn't talking to her anymore. I'm sorry."

The boys nodded and Harry went to help put the dishes in the sink. Petunia told them to go up, brush their teeth and go to bed. Dudley did as told right away while Harry looked from the sink to his aunt with a questioning look. "Go, dear. I'll wash the dishes." She told the boy and he went away still looking back a few times.

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Dudley had a lot to think and dream about this night and was asleep as soon as he hit the pillow, he didn't even notice his mother entering the room to give him his goodnight kiss and tuck him in. Harry was almost asleep when he saw the door opening. "Aunt Petunia?"

"Not asleep yet, dear?" The boy nodded from the cot and she sighed sitting on the bed and motioning for the boy to do so as well. When he did she went to tuck him in and give him his goodnight kiss. "This bed, and everything in this room, is yours, dear. Now is too late to put anything away so we'll wait 'till tomorrow to throw that cot away, but we _will_ throw it away. Understood?" At the boy's nod, she kissed him again and went her way for a well deserved night of sleep.

Harry put his hand over the place his aunt had kissed him at and smiled thinking about the talk from dinner before falling asleep. _'Maybe being a wizard isn't so bad. I even get goodnight kisses,_ two _at that.'_


	3. 3 - Now what?

A/N: Thank you for new reviews, favs and follows; and also to those who continue to do so. This and the next two or three chapters happen on the same day.

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3 - Now what?

When Petunia went to make breakfast the next day she was greeted by the smell of the best breakfast to ever be put on that house's table. Entering the kitchen she saw the table already set up with sausages, streaky bacon, smoked bacon, a stack of plain toasts, butter, jam, honey, a plate of cooked slices of tomato, Harry's homemade sauce they liked to use for breakfast, a jug of orange juice, a plate of fried up mushrooms with onions seasoning, roasted chopped up potatoes... Petunia was speechless and just looked over in the direction of the stove when Harry spoke.

"The beans are almost finished cooking, Aunt Petunia. I was starting with the eggs now." Her nephew was looking at her with an expectant look, probably trying to measure how much trouble he was in for not finishing the breakfast before she came.

"Dear, you didn't have to do all this. It's so much food..." She trailed off looking at the breakfast table again thinking about how anyone could eat that much food only to be brought back to her new reality by her nephew's gasp. She put on a smile, not the best move since her nephew started trembling slightly right after, walked up to him and took the pan he was holding onto for his dear life. She delicately put it away, turned back to the boy cupping his cheek and pulled him into a hug.

"Aunt Petunia?" Harry didn't know how to react to that. He wasn't scolded for not finishing his morning chores; he was scolded for doing too much for breakfast. Thinking again it made sense; Uncle Vernon was not there so he should have done less food. But the hug? Maybe he could get away with some snuggling… Aunt Petunia did give his a goodnight kiss last night after all.

Petunia smiled and hugged her nephew even more strongly when she noticed the snuggle. She kissed him on the head and let go to look right into his beautiful green eyes. "Dear, forget the eggs. There's already enough food on the table. We'll finish the beans since they are mostly ready anyway." Seeing her nephew nod and looking away at the floor, she cupped his face with both hands and met his eyes again. "Dear, thank you for making us breakfast, but from now on you can leave the cooking and cleaning and taking care of the house to me."

Harry watched his aunt a bit warily. If he was to leave the care of the house to his aunt, he wondered what he was supposed to do to pay for his living, surely just mowing the lawn and painting the fence and gardening wouldn't amount to much. "Then what will be my new chores?"

Petunia sighed earning a look from her nephew that she couldn't decipher but surely it wasn't anything good. "You are a child, dear. You shouldn't have all these chores to do, and that includes mowing, painting the fence and gardening." She turned the fire off when the beans made themselves know to be ready and led him to sit at the table. "Your _chores_ will change now. You are to clean up your room and maintain it organised. You have to study this remaining part of summer since your grades were not good at school, but you'll still have time to play." She had her heart on her throat already just from thinking how she had hindered her nephew through the years. It was wrong of her to make him feel bad for getting higher grades than her Dudley. She should have made Dudley study more... Actually, she should have brought her son differently. She had also been a bad mother to him, if one counted how big, the bad kind of big, and how spoiled and how respectful he was.

Dudley entered as Harry was asking about how he would pay for his being with them. She steered him to sit next to Harry and went to sit opposite them after hugging her son. "Dear you don't have to _pay_ for anything. Even if you had, all the work done for the last years would be more than enough compensation. I'll let you help with food if you insisting, but just a little, okay?" she pinned him under a light stare, definitely not a glare, she turned to her son. "Sweetie, I apologised to your cousin yesterday, but I should also have apologised to you. I was an awful mother, for that I am truly sorry." she couldn't contain herself and went over to hug him.

Dudley was shocked. His mother was apologising to him. He turned to his cousin, but he shook his head saying he didn't know what this was about; he seemed as shocked as him. Dudley hugged his mother back and before he could say anything, she continued about the nonsensical apology.

"I should have taught you better, sweetie. Should have protected you." She loosened the hug to look at his eyes. "Look at you now, looking so much like Vernon." there was the slightest flinch from her son that made her try and reassure him. "You're so big... As big as he was. We should at least be thankful that you got your looks from _my_ family. You're such a beautiful child, sweetie. Oh and these clothes... I should have had more sense than dress you up like this. I bet that no kid your age would like to dress this way." She traced a hand on a mostly healed small cut down his cheek thanking all the gods it wouldn't leave a mark. "I should have protected you better from him. From everything he did." She was starting to tear up. Vernon had taught so many bad things to her son, she shouldn't have let him do it.

The boys were starting to understand what she meant; she was blaming herself for what happened. Dudley felt his cousin's hand on his shoulder. Just a few months ago he would have swatted it away and called him a freak, but after his father- No. He promised himself he wouldn't think about that again, at least for now. He had to let go, he was taken by the police. He shook his head to relieve himself from those thoughts and to concentrate on his mother. His mum was the best in the whole world, and when he saw her eyes starting to tear up he froze. "It's, it's not your fault." he told her. He wanted to say so much, but that was the only thing coming out, so he repeated it over and over again hoping he could convince his mum.

Petunia scooped her nephew into the hug she was already giving her son and stayed like that for a few more minutes while she said she was sorry over and over again and her children answered with a mantra of _'It's not your fault'_. It felt good to know they didn't blame her, even if she knew that wasn't true. She knew she had it coming, but for now _that_ nightmare was over and done, she would let it go. She beckoned the boys to eat up and went back to started with breakfast herself. Her son seemed pleased with the feast and her nephew seemed pleased they were both pleased. "Thank Harry for breakfast, sweetie. He was the one to make this feast for us. Let's us all use this to celebrate the first day of our new life." She smiled at them, chuckled at their astonished faces and started eating. Her nephew was a _bloody good cook_ and she would be damned if she wouldn't enjoy his cooking every now and then, she just had to make sure he was comfortable with cooking and not slaved like he was before. He seemed to be enjoying himself today after all.

Harry was enjoying being able to eat at the table like he was part of the family. He was putting a bit of aunt Petunia's favourite jam on a toast _for him_ when a thought came to him and he let it fall on his plate. "How are we going to pay for school?" His cousin was looking at him like he had four heads and then gasped understanding it. His aunt still looked confused, so he went on. "I mean, we have to pay for tuition and books and the school stuff that were on the list. And the food? How do we pay for the food? Do we have to get a job?"

Petunia widened her eyes. Right, money. Vernon was the provider of the house; he brought the money in. Harry was only worried about school and food, but he didn't know better. Petunia knew: being alive costed money. She thought a little about what to do. "No, dear. _You_ don't have to get a job. _Either of you_. I on the other hand have, but that's for later. For now, we still have some money to go on. There's also our savings in the bank. We thought Dudley was going to Smeltings and that a bit of an expensive school so we saved a little to help with that. The rest of the savings were going to the vacation of the family. _That_ is cancelled for now, if we have enough money we'll go one next summer. I have a few jewels that could be sold as well. So for this summer and the school _stuff,_ we have enough money. I'll find something after you both go to school.

"Now, we still need to go to the bank and see how much we really have and plan how to best use it. We also need to find the place to buy your school's books and the rest... Maybe we should try to find your mother's friend, Harry. He could help was, at the very least he knows where the place is. He used to live near us, let's hope he's still there." _We should also buy a few normal clothes to you both._ She didn't voice her last thought, though, and sent them away to go change while she cleaned up the table. There was not much to clean up since they ate almost everything. With such a big breakfast they could afford a late lunch that day, the bank would most likely take a lot of their time. Maybe they should go shopping first, then the bank, lunch and the hunting for Lily's friend.

when the boys came back she had to take Harry up again and they went through a few of Dudley's old clothes that would fit her nephew better, and that didn't look like they were old at all - there were quite a few that didn't look old. On the way back down, she took two of Dudley's backpack and handed one to each boy. "We're going to buy clothes first. Not many, but you both need a few normal clothes. Now, you're both big boys so you'll help carry your own things. And behave, understood?"

"Yes, mum." _Finally! No more ridiculous babyish clothes._

"Yes, Aunt Petunia." _I get my own clothes?_

She looked the boys over, nodded and stirred them to the car. She didn't know how to do much outside housework, but at least she knew how to drive. And there they went on to London, hoping for clothes, enough money for summer and maybe a cake for his birthday.


	4. 4 - Where money comes from

A/N: I'm working with a $600 minimum wage in this chapter. I did some research and don't think it's that disparaging, in 1991 the wages were about $3,60 an hour and the average worker works a maximum of 48h per week. Then again, I'm not from the UK so I had to pick a number. Just bear with me and think on those numbers.

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4 - Where money comes from

 _Wow... London is so big! So different from home. I thought school was big but this is just... wow. Look at that building! So tall!_

"Harry put your head back inside the car. It's dangerous."

"Yes, Aunt Petunia."

 _Wow, this must be a really good day; Aunt Petunia is even smiling and chuckling! A whole day without Dudley hunting me, and he's being pretty nice today too, even thanked me for breakfast! Ah! Strange looking people!_ "Hey, Dudley, look at those strange people! They look like that movie you like!"

"Let me see!" Dudley went over him to see through Harry's window and frowned. "They are NOT like in the movie, you IDIOT!"

"Don't call your cousin that! Apologise!"

"Yes, mum. Sorry, Harry..." He grumbled the last part and became confused at Harry's beaming smile at him. Not knowing what to do, he gave a faint smile back and went to look over his own window.

 _Definitely the best day EVER!_ He continued to watch over his window and ask his cousin about everything different he saw -which was pretty much everything Aunt Petunia sometimes chuckled at some of Harry's questions and Dudley's answers. He had just made another one —that even he knew was plain stupid— when the car entered a building and stopped abruptly and Aunt Petunia looked back at him. _I should've known better than to ask so many questions... Shouldn't've asked anything at all, really._

"Now, I will need you two to be on your best behaviour, boys. First, we're going into a shop to sell off some of my jewels, then we're going to the clothes shop. Come, boys. Out of the car." They got off the car; Aunt Petunia did something and then tried opening it. When she couldn't, she gave a satisfied nod and steered them out of that place and onto the shop.

* * *

The shop looked like any other pawnshop but it was still a bit overwhelming for the two eleven-year-old. One look at the shop and they were clustered together keeping as close as possible to the woman who came in with them. The man behind the counter put his newspaper down and opened a big smile for his customers. "My, my, this one I haven't seen in over a decade. Back in the business, dearest?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." The woman said scrunching her face and pulling her kids closer. _'A most amusing reaction.'_ The man thought, enjoying himself maybe too much.

"Ah, but you do." The man stated in a mock condescending tone. "I have this vivid memory playing in my head right now. One where you are really young accompanied by an equally young whale of a man. He always comes with things for me to sell. A most interesting memory, don't you think?" He then gave her such a predatory smile that it sent shivers up her spine that weren't quite the fear the children were beginning to feel. "But then again, maybe I'm just fantasying about you... Couldn't help myself, you see." He moved his hand slowly over his torso seeming straightening his clothes, but clearly bringing attention to his body and going lower.

"I-I think I remember coming once with my h- boyfriend, at the time." She tried to gulp down the obstruction in her throat, licked her suddenly parched lips moistening them. The man paid avid attention to her every move. "I came to sell some of my jewels." She said bringing a little case over the counter and opening it.

"My, my. Don't we like it fast?" He shot her another predatory smile and went to take one of the seemly jewels in hand purposeful brushing her hand slowly. He let it linger a little licking his lips and gave her an amused smile when she snatched the hand back after another shiver. "Please take a seat, beautiful. This might take some time." He motioned to chairs that definitely weren't there before.

The woman and the children sat there waiting for his appraisal. he, of course, took his time and made sure to lock eyes with any of them he could as many times as he could. _Most amusing reactions indeed._

"It seems you're finished already." The woman got up when he put down the last piece of jewellery.

"Ah, yes, that I am. Pity." He handed a piece of strange paper with numbers noted to her. "This is what I could pay for each." He tried to linger and touch her hands again but they were snatched away quickly. _The woman can learn it seems._

"This is too little! They are worth way more than this!"

"Ah, but your husband said they didn't need to be real. Only that they need to be able to fool others..." At the woman's widened eyes, he smirked and added. "An information I suppose he didn't give you. He's a good customer, you see, so I made sure they were at least not glass. But we can always work something up for a higher price..." He took the hand clutching the strange paper in his and plucked the paper away with the other. _It seems anything I do could get her shivering._ He shivered a little slightly with the image that came into his head. He caressed the back of her hand with his thumb a few times before letting go.

"I accept this price. At least this explains a few things." He handed her about seven hundred pounds trying to touch her hands again. She took the money, thanked the man and left with the children in a blur of motion not even commenting on the sudden rise in the price.

 _A most amusing woman. Maybe I will see her again..._

* * *

"Boys, remember: A shirt, one pair of pants and two T-shirts. Nothing more. Go find what you want and meet back here in forty minutes."

"Yes, Aunt Petunia." Harry answered before scurrying off like his cousin.

 _Hmm... There's so many clothes everywhere, not even Dudley has_ this _many clothes. Oh, this one looks nice! But it's so big... Aunt Petunia made such a fuss about Dudley's clothing not fitting me before..._

"Can I help you? Are you lost?"

Harry turned to see a woman dressed with what he assumed was the store's uniform. "Er... My Aunt Petunia told me to pick clothes but..." _It's normal to ask for help in a store, right?_

"Well, you find anything that fits you in this section, young man. It's the adult section. And where's this aunt of yours?" Her tone seemed a bit accusing.

"She's somewhere in the store. Told us to meet her back over there in an hour." Harry fidgeted a little. "Am I in trouble?"

"Come with me so we can try to find your _aunt._ " She grabbed Harry by his arm and steered him forcefully to a room in the back of the store.

"Another one? They don't learn! These kids shouldn't be allowed anywhere near decent people like us!" The big man then turned to Harry. "What have you gotten there, you punk? What did you put in that bag of yours, huh?" He took Harry's bag away with a wrench and started his _search_.

"You're going to destroy it! Stop it! That's my cousin's backpack! Please!" Harry was trembling and holding tears back, the man was just like Uncle Vernon. _Aunt Petunia and Dudley will be furious with me._

"Seems like he didn't have time to get anything yet." The man tossed the backpack and Harry taking it hurriedly scurried to crouch by the wall. "Look at the punk. All scared now. Shouldn't have tried to take anything on our watch, you punk."

The woman was about to add something when the door opened and another store staff entered with a woman and a plump boy. "Jenkins we need you to announce a lost kid on the-"

"Harry!" Hearing his name he looked up to see his aunt and run over to her. She caught him in a hug and glared at the others in the room "What happened, dear? Did they do something to you?"

"My backpack is ruined!" Dudley said taking it from Harry.

"I tried to stop them I swear, Aunt Petunia. But they said I had taken something. Please, it was not my fault." _Please don't hate me again._

"What is the meaning of this commotion?" Another man entered the small room, this one was dressed better them the others, though.

"Your _staff_ took my nephew and treated him like a petty thief. He never stole before, and he certainly doesn't need to now!" She pulled Harry closer trying to assure him.

"Manager Meyer, we thought he was one the kids we caught earlier this week. Some of them had escaped and we-"

"Enough! I don't want to hear another word from you two. This will be the last time something like this happens. Go wait for me in my office." He put on a business smile and turned to his customers. "I'm sorry they put your nephew through such an ordeal, madam. I'm sure we can do something about this. That is aside from fired them."

"We just came to shop for clothing, how do you expect me to do anything with a distressed kid? And my son's backpack's ruined! I should call the police and report this store!" At the mention of the police both Harry and Dudley flinched and turned pleading eyes to Petunia.

"Surely we don't need to go to such lengths, madam. Maybe we can compensate you and your children in some way? I have an attendant that is very good with children; she could help you with buying the children's clothing. Of course everything free of charge." The man seemed almost desperate and was happy to see Petunia perking up at the mention of free clothes.

"I don't know. What do you say, dear? Do you still want to go pick clothes?" She brushed a kiss on top of Harry's head while he seemed to think.

"Can I?" _She still wants to give me clothes!_ And _I got another kiss!_

She nodded at him and they all went to pick new clothes. And no one could blame Petunia for getting a whole new wardrobe for both her children and a few new dresses for herself; it was a big ordeal Harry went through after all.

* * *

"Mrs Dursley?" At the call of her name, Petunia took her boys to the office of the bank manager calling her. They shook hands, traded a few pleasantries and sat. "What can I do for you, ma'am? How is your husband?"

"My _husband_ is in jail, but we can talk about that on another occasion." She pursed her lips and took the boys hands in hers to try and reassure them.

"I'm sorry. And I suppose you are to take care of the finances now." The man stated more than asked.

"Yes, I am. I believe we have some money left in the account, that aside from our savings. The boys will be going to a boarding school come September and I'll only be able to look for work after that. So we need to know how much we have to plan the best way to spend it."

"I see. First, will I be dealing with Mr Dursley anytime soon, or at all?"

"Not if I can help." She said haughtily.

"Then I do have a suggestion for how to proceed. I shall give it after you know what you have. Is that acceptable?"

"It is. I anything wrong with our finances?"

"You be the judge of that, Mrs Dursley. First, answering your requests, you have 2.759 pounds in your account and 10.000 pounds in your savings account. The amounts have already been updated with the last monthly allowance payment from the trust fund."

"That much?! How come we have that much in savings? And what did you mean by allowance? I don't remember my parents _or_ Vernon's leaving a trust fund, it would have already been used if there was one."

The man sighed and massaged his temples a bit before speaking again. "Clarify something before we continue: You are not associated with your husband anymore nor will you be in the future Is that correct?"

"Yes. He won't come near my children or me if I can help it."

He sighed again. "Then I'll assume he never told you of any dealings related to your finances. Let's start from the beginning then. On November of 1981, an account in this very bank was set up to Mr Dursley by request of the Potter's account's manager. This was, and still is, a most trustworthy institution, therefore it was chosen for the future dealings. A trust fund was left to your nephew, a very large one. To help with the costs of raising a child a monthly allowance of 2.000 pounds was also set up. Those payments started at the time the account was set up. And for security purposes, the remaining part of the loan Mr Dursley used to buy your house was paid at once by the trust fund as well."

"Are you sure about all this? What about his income from his job? He's a director at his company, so there should be more than the amount you said in the account. He receives his wages in this bank, right?"

"He did receive his wages here. The last deposit was last month. Seeing that you told me he's in jail, it makes sense that it didn't come in this month. I don't know what his position was but I highly doubt it was anything high. He received the average minimum wage of 600 pounds, clearly not enough for any management position or higher."

"You're to tell me that most of our money is actually my nephew's? And that for the last ten years we were fed, clothed and housed with his money? That we live off of him?"

"That is what it seems, yes."

Petunia was, to say the least, shocked. Everything she believed, all the _justifications_ they used for the appalling treatment of her nephew during the last ten years was a lie. Her nephew was never a burden like Vernon used to preach. If anything it was the exact opposite, _they_ were the ones who took the food and clothing from him to give it to their son. What else could he have concealed? She was shocked about the fake jewellery already but this was on a whole new level. "I- I- We- What..."

The man lifted one hand to stop her from talking. "I believe this is a lot to process right now, so I'll go on with my suggestion and we can talk in more detail at a later date of your choosing. I strongly suggest that open a new account under _only_ your name, so Mr Dursley's won't be able to touch it in the case he is freed. You would transfer all the money in your current account and savings to the new one. And afterwards, I'll contact the trust fund manager to change the receiving account; it will be easy as it was set up to have you as a recipient. After all is in order you should start the process of removing yourself from _this_ account. I would tell you to divorce him as well but that's entirely up to you."

"I- Thank you. I'll take your suggestions about the accounts for now. Is it possible to know what Vernon did with the money since we started receiving it?"

"It is. I'll contact you when it's ready for you, it will take some time to prepare it, though. Ten years' worth of transactions... Well, here are the papers for the new account. Everything will be ready in a few days, so it would be better if you withdrew some money for another week or two."

"Yes, I will do that." She seemed resigned and a bit stiff. The papers were handled, money withdrawn and the three people left for a late lunch with a lot, one more than the others.


	5. 5 - Getting help

A/N: Thank you so much for the favs, follows and reviews. I hope I at least live up to your expectations. I meant for this chapter to be bigger but cut it short and left the rest for the next one.

* * *

5 - Getting help

Petunia ushered her children to a family restaurant nearby and sat with them at a window table. Somehow, there was no fighting for who would seat near the window. Dudley had pushed his cousin to the window while he sat on the aisle seat. Petunia sat opposite the boys as was becoming customary. A waitress came with glasses and a jug of cold water, gave them the menu and left after filling the glasses. All three were still caught up in their own musings.

* * *

Ever since they crossed the entrance to the restaurant Harry had forgotten all about the conversation at the bank. He looked everywhere like it was new to him. In fact, he never entered a place like this. It was exactly like in the telly, exactly like the snippets he saw once when passing by the living room. He had delayed himself on purpose that time so he could see what was amusing his cousin so much. He paid dearly afterwards since his Uncle Vernon didn't like him anywhere near Dudley when he was watching the telly. He knew his cousin had come to places like this one before when Harry was left with Mrs Figg for the family's outings. But never before had he thought _he, Harry,_ would enter such a place. And to make it even better he was with his cousin and Aunt Petunia, almost like he was part of the family!

 _Right. Aunt Petunia said I was family the other day, maybe she wasn't joking... I never saw her joking without her friends, though. Oh! We can see outside from this table! Hmm, but maybe Dudley wants to-_

He was pushed into the seat beside the window by his cousin who sat himself next to him. He was still beaming at his cousin when he received the menu.

 _Dudley's being so nice to me today. He taught me a lot of things on the way here and now he even let me have the best seat! Of course, he was nice sometimes. Not when he was hunting me, but he let me eat his leftovers -and there's a lot of them when did it- without Uncle Vernon knowing... And there was that time he got me a band-aid when Uncle Vernon hit my head on the wall and shoved me in the cupboard 'cause I was bleeding... Oh! There's so many foods to choose from! What do I eat? Maybe something cheaper, that way Aunt Petunia would bring me together the next time she takes Dudley out. Mrs Figg house is not very nice..._

* * *

 _What is the idio- Harry beaming at me for this time? Doesn't he know it makes people feel strange when he does it? It's not like I let him have the window seat because I know he likes watching people come and go. I just like the aisle seat better because I'm served faster._

They sat there a few more moments before they were told to order their food. His mum just finished asking for a salad and grilled salmon. He just knew his cousin would make a fool of himself and ask something strange -only freaks would do that. And since his mum told him they were the same he couldn't let people think he was a freak. He snatched the menu from Harry and handed it over to the waitress ordering for both.

"Two burgers, chips and chocolate milkshakes." His mum curled her lips a little but didn't say anything. He turned to Harry in time to see the devastated face he had before he looked down to his hands gripping at his pants, his knuckles were white he noticed. _What is he upset about now?_ The boy huffed and the silence was only broken when their orders were put on the table. He tucked in right away.

"Uhmm... Sorry, but is there a problem with the food?" He and his mum looked up from their plates at the waitress question with equally confused looks. When they noticed she was looking at the third person at the table they also did so noticing he had pushed his food away.

"Ah, no, no. I'm sure it is fine. Just..." he trailed off hesitantly.

"Just what, dear?" Harry started squirming under their watchful eyes. Dudley had had enough and kicked him under the table earning a squeak from him and glare from his mum. It still worked, though.

"Just... It's... It's Dudley's food, right? He asked it, right? Two." It seemed Harry was dead set on not looking up so he didn't see the confused faces looking at him.

 _Figures... The idiot..._ "I ordered for you, stupid!"

"Dudley!" He shrugged his mum's reprimand and began eating again. "Dear, as he said he ordered for the both of you. It's okay if you want something else, though."

Harry gasped and suddenly Dudley saw himself warped in a sort of strange embrace. He thought it was supposed to be a hug.

"Harry?" His mum was as shocked as him. Harry never touched people; never hugged people; especially him.

"Get off, freak! Lemme go!" He wrestled himself off of his cousin clutches only to see a look on his mum's face that he had never seen before.

"Dudley Mason Dursley! Do not call your cousin that!" His mum was seething, and that was playing it down. He turned to his cousin right away to apologise but stopped in his tracks at the beaming smile Harry was still showing him. He quickly apologised and they went on eating in silence until it was time for dessert.

"Since you two behaved yourselves today, I ordered a good dessert for you." In front of him and his cousin each was a big sundae with chocolate and vanilla ice cream, various different toppings and a banana split.

 _Mum is the best! I love sundaes!_ And from looks of it so did his cousin. They both ate away their desserts happily enough. Leaving the restaurant afterwards almost skipping from happiness to the next destination.

* * *

"This looks nice. Did you like living here, Aunt Petunia?"

"Well, I did... when I was little."

"What happened then, mum?"

"... Look! We arrived! This is Spinner's End. Your mother's friend used to live somewhere around here. Let's hope he still does..." Petunia left and locked the car. Looking around a bit trying not to appear too out of place she was approached by an old lady leaving a house with a little dog.

"Excuse me, are you perhaps lost?"

"Oh, no, not lost. I came to visit an old... acquaintance of mine but it seems I forgot which house was his. They are all so similar..." She tried her best to not seem suspicious but it just peaked the old lady's interest.

"Well, I've lived here all my life. Maybe I can help you some. Who is this acquaintance of yours?"

"Snape. I'm looking for the Snapes. They used to live here over a decade ago, not really sure if they still do, though." Petunia knew she was failing miserably at looking meek but she was still praying this old lady wouldn't recognise her. The last thing she needed was another ghost from that past.

"Oh, young Severus! Yes, he still lives here. Over that house, the third from here. It was such a pity his mother died so early. Eileen was such a good woman, not really smart, though, you know."

"I see. Thank you for your help." She steered her boys to the right house as quickly as she could. She really didn't want to deal with a gossiping neighbour at this time of the afternoon. She grudgingly knocked on the door almost regretting her decision in coming. There were more important things now than saving face in front of this man; her children, for example. She was about to knock again when the door opened revealing the person they sought.

* * *

Severus really liked summer. It was not always like that, tough. After months cooped up dealings with hundreds of dunderheads who couldn't follow the simplest of instructions and insisted on making his life difficult summer was something to anxiously anticipate. The calmness of his home, now that he could call it a _home_. The days dedicated only to himself and his brewing. An afternoon with no purpose besides enjoying a good tea and a book, listening to the silence of no barmy old man barging in on his space to make a stupid request. Nothing. Only Severus, his tea and silenc-

 _knock-knock-knock_

Severus stilled for a moment. It was not common that something made him lose his composure, much less _a knock on his door._ He quickly rearranged his features to those of perpetual boredom. Only one person would be imbecilic enough to seek him during his time of rest with ridiculous requests _and_ use his _door_.

"Yes?" Severus had to thank all the years of practice reigning in his emotions for _this_ was an unexpected visitor. Even for the countless scenarios he used to visualise for... everything. Scanning the scene before him again Severus noticed two children hiding behind the woman facing him, likely afraid of his visage. One was an overweighed boy with familiar features. The other... Severus blood started to boil the instant his eyes latched on the other boy's appearance, one he hoped never to see again. Then he settled on the boy's eyes. Those green eyes...

"Would you mind letting us in? I would like for you to at least hear me before sending us away." Severus nodded and reluctantly relinquished the sight of those green eyes to let the trio in closing the door after them. He led them to the couch and signalled for the woman to seat with the children. He also offered tea as was proper. Served them and paid close attention to the woman and green eyed boy as she began to talk.

"I'll begin with the purpose of this visit and my request. I need help in getting the boys' school supplies and all those things _that_ school required. Would it be possible for you to help us?"

Severus was, to say the least, confused. The only sing of such was a barely lifted eyebrow. Did she say: boys? As in plural? And if memory served him right, both this woman her husband were quite extreme in their _aversion_ to everything magical. How anyone saw fit to leave their _saviour_ with such people was beyond him. No wonder the old coot never told anyone where he had sent the boy. "Perhaps a bit of context would be required but, yes, it is possible for me to _help, Tuney._ A bit of an introduction wouldn't be out of hand."

Both boys seemed amused by the use of the nickname, so it was not used regularly in their household -maybe not at all. "Severus Snape. And your boys are?" He maintained his tone neutral but let a condescending aura seep out.

Petunia nudged the boys lightly beckoning them to introduce themselves. The first to do so was the round one. His introduction was short but with enough confidence; good enough for a child. The other seemed reluctant in following his cousin's steps but did it quickly as if to end a horrible ordeal. A most curious reaction. What surprised Severus the most was the word he thought described better the boy's attitude: meek. Such a word could never be used for either his parents, how had he come to have such a trait?

"Now for context, it a tale I'd rather not have my children hear it." Petunia was stiff and resigned to fate. Which one, Severus couldn't fathom.

"Very well. Each of you, take a book from the shelf to your left and read it while we talk more important matters." Again the green eyed boy had an unexpected reaction. He was beaming and his twinkled in a way the make even old twinkling master envious of the ability.

"I can read?"

"That is what I expect, yes." He answered with another lift of his eyebrows taking in Petunia pinching the bridge of her nose.

"And I can even choose?" At Severus nod, the boy beamed an even bigger and brighter smile and rushed to his shelves to look for a book. The other boy thankfully acted as a _normal_ one and took a stack of comics Severus used to collect.

Sensing the boy's reaction was part of the _context,_ he lifted a one-way silencing barrier so they would hear the boys but would not be heard. "Talk."

"I assume you used some frea- magic to not let them hear us?" Severus gave a slight confirmation nod. "Where do you want me to start?" Petunia now seemed... determined?

"From the beginning... Please." One must not forget manners. Not use them on purpose? Yes, but never forget.

"For me, it started on the morning of the second day of November, in 1981. I went out to pick up the milk and morning correspondence only to find a basket with a baby bundled in a thin blanket and a short note. As you most likely know, I wasn't on the best of terms with my sister for quite some time. So I didn't even know I had a nephew, just that she had married. She may have sent a letter and a may have stashed it away with all the others.

"The note was a short missive telling me my sister was dead and that I was to care for her son. Really, the only thing that made me believe that was my sister's son was those green, green eyes... They were so like my sister's, even his round cheeks were exactly like hers when she was his age." Petunia sighed and tried to collect herself before continuing. Needless to say, she failed miserably.

"Sorry, where was I again? Ah, yes, Harry arriving. If you remember Vernon, you must imagine that he at least didn't like that situation. He went on and on about what a burden the _freak_ would be..." Severus found it interesting the disgusted face Petunia made as she spat her favourite word. And somehow he got the feeling she wasn't happy about her husband's behaviour.

"Yes. I remember him. In the end, he accepted the boy. Is that correct?"

"Oh, yes. He accepted. Just a few days later when he came from work he told me as much. He also said that he wouldn't take anything from his son to give it to the freak. Be it food, clothes, space or anything. Harry was a bit agitated at first and his wailing would always wake Dudley up. So we put him in the cupboard under the stairs." Petunia immediately held her hand up as if to stop Severus from saying anything, not that he would at the moment. "Just listen until the end. I'll hear comments afterwards." again Severus only nodded his agreement and on she went.

"Harry lived in that damned cupboard until early June this year. For the past ten years, he helped around the house _to earn his keep._ Vernon believed that Harry had to _pay_ us back for keeping him. As for me, I'll admit to wanting some level of gratitude. But sometimes even I thought his chores were too much for a child. For anyone, really. But whenever I thought of lightening his workload something happened. Something _freak_. The reminder always worked me up and made me remember all that I hated about your world. As a result, Harry suffered.

"I don't even remember how many chores he did, but he did almost everything in the house. Painting, the fence and walls, of course, cleaning, cooking, sewing, mowing, washing the clothes... Everything. Name a house chore and it was given to him. And his clothes? His parents didn't think to leave him anything, why should we use on him what we could use on our son? Why buy him new clothes when it was perfectly fine for him to use Dudley's old clothes? he should feel grateful that we were clothing him.

"Oh, and feeding? Why take the food from our son's mouth to put on his when his good for nothing father didn't think about that before dying? Harry only ate the scraps and leftovers, sometimes he didn't even eat. And going to _bed_ without eating was actually a regular punishment. Sometimes a whack on the head, nothing too much, though. we didn't want to waste _Vernon's hard earned money_ on such an ungrateful child.

"And when school started he got into all sorts of troubles. Even so, he managed to do better than Dudley at first. But I'm a good mother I put the _freak_ in his place. What was he trying to do? Make her Dudley look stupid? Did he think he was better than us? Just like all his kind? A _freak_ whose parents died and burdened an honest good hard working couple with him? God only now how they died!

"And his questions about everything! Where are my parents? What's this? What's that? So many stupid questions! We had to tell the boy something! So, one day Vernon told him his _good for nothing parents_ were drunks and died in a car crash, only Harry survived. Of course, he also told him off because of the endless questions. No more questions after that."

The woman was huffing and panting hard. She seemed angry with the situation, but something told Severus it was not at Harry. For a moment he thought she had finished and he would be able to make his remarks about such appalling behaviour but she resumed her rant.

"But life is not _that_ easy. No. One day something would happen to change our lives. You know how there's always that moment in life that changes your world, beliefs, your very being? For my sister, it was a Hogwarts Letter. For me, not only it was a Hogwarts Letter but _my son's_ Hogwarts Letter!" Now Severus was surprised, his eyebrows even shot to his hairline. Petunia's son was a wizard. How... ironic.

"Of course Vernon freak out! What a stupid word. He went crazy saying my baby was contaminated. Imagine that! My baby! He is perfectly normal, thank you very much. But ranting was not enough for Vernon. I had never seen him look like that. it was like he was someone else. He started beating Harry saying he passed his _freakishness_ to Dudley. Even lashed at me when I tried to stop him, make him see reason. I was shocked and Dudley was afraid... And when Dudley tried to get his attention it only got worse. He threw Harry to the floor and went for my Dudley.

"He said he would _fix_ him, would _beat the freakishness away_. I tried to stop him with more vigour this only to get beaten again. I got to the phone while he was _distracted_ beating the boy again and called for help. I then went back to face him. He was still beating me when the police arrived later. We spent over a month in the hospital recovering.

"And you think that was enough damage? Oh, no. Nothing is enough for Vernon. Nothing. Today we went to the bank before we came here. To evaluate our financial situation. I knew we had some money saved for a trip and for Dudley school things, he was going to Smeltings, you know. So I wanted to know exactly how much we had and use the money or both their schooling and for the rest of the summer.

"Imagine my surprise when I was informed we had over ten thousand pounds between the normal account and the savings. And to top it all, we received _a monthly allowance_ of two thousand pounds every month from Harry's trust fund. To help with the costs that come from caring for a child. Not only the _allowance s_ tarted as soon as we received Harry, but our house loan was completely paid for by that same trust fund. They wanted to guarantee that Harry would have a roof over his head.

"I was such an idiot. I won't be surprised if he hid other things from me. Everything about Vernon was false: his behaviour, the jewels he gave me, his _morality_... God, even his paycheck was false!" Severus was... shocked. He was rendered speechless before so much information. So he did the only thing he could think of that moment.

"Tea?"

"Yes, thank you. Two spoons of sugar."

They drank the tea in silence for a few more moments while watching the boys happily reading their chosen material. Severus had- needed to be objective, least he do something he would come to regret later. He stored the information away to process and analyse at a better occasion. It was best to solve the immediate problems and doubts. In any case, he was starting to understand the green eyed boys reactions.

"I'll leave my personal remarks about you and your husband for a later date. First, where is he?"

"In jail. Not leaving anytime soon."

"I see... Now, about the letter. Who was it that delivered it?"

"What do you mean?" A sense of dread entered Severus very being. Certainly, they wouldn't...

"It is customary for a member of Hogwarts staff to deliver the letter to muggleborn and muggle-raised children. Usually, it is taken care of by our Deputy Headmistress. I believe it was she who delivered Lily's."

"I do remember that day. But no visitors came for us. Either for Dudley or for Harry. Their letters came at different dates. Maybe because we already knew of your world they thought it unnecessary."

"Perhaps." Severus decided to also let this information for later use. It seems a lot is happening. "What do you intend to focus first?"

"Well. My first worry was about clothes but that is already solved. Since I believe we have more them enough money for summer _and_ school supplies, I wanted to get everything school related as soon as possible. I hindered both Dudley _and_ Harry with my approach on their studies. I'll try to remediate some of it during the rest of summer."

"Sounds Like a good plan, except for the money part-"

"I do plan to explain to the boys our financial situation. Also, I'll ask for Harry to let me use this money, that is clearly his, to help buy Dudley's things for now. I'll find a proper job and repay Harry for it. I don't even know what to do to make up for all those years, not to mention all the money involved."

"Yes, that is a sensible action. However the problem I was referring to was a bit more literal. You see, wizards have a different currency from muggles. It is possible to exchange it. One would need to contact our bank to know about the exchange rate." And of course, they would be able to provide all kinds of information about Harry's financial situation, even Petunia's. Besides, it is easier for a wizard to procure such information... Something was definitely off. It would possibly be better to do everything in person, goblins prefer it to owls anyway.

"How soon can that be done?"

"I think it better to go in person and solve everything at once. If it is agreeable to you we could go tomorrow. You could stay the night with the children here as this is a secure location. On the other hand, you three would be sleeping in the same room as I only have one spare. Notice that is easier to travel to the bank from a wizarding house. _And_ I would be able to apply the appropriate safety measures regarding your children." Something of a plan was beginning to form on Severus' head. Still, much research was needed. This would be a long night for him.

"If it's safer and easier I don't see a problem. And we shared a room for the past month in the hospital, so it's no news for them. New clothes were... _obtained_ today, so that's no problem. Wouldn't it burden you? That will be three more to feed..."

"I don't make it a custom of offering something I'm not inclined to doing. That said, _Twinky_." Severus cancelled the silencing ward as his house elf appeared with a _pop_.

"What can Twinky bes doing for Master?"

"Prepare the guest room for our three visitors. Also retrieve their things from the car. As for the car, shrink it and put it over the fireplace. Needless to say, they will be joining us for dinner and breakfast at least. Before all that, introduce yourself to our guests."

"Yes, Master. Pleased to meet you master's guests. I's be Twinky." His house elf bowed low as was proper and left with another _pop_.

"What was that?" Both boys asked at the same time. Interesting.

"That was a house elf. They are sort of servants in the wizarding world. You will note not every wizard has one. They _are not_ slaves, even if a few may treat them as such. They like to serve and are happy to make that their purpose in life. They are bound to their _masters_ by magic, it makes them stronger and healthier, as well as prolong theirs . And _that_ was your first lesson about the wizarding world. Now follow me."

Severus felt some sort of pride and smugness at the children's adoring look towards him, not that he would ever let it be known. He pulled the book that opened the door to the upstairs rooms making sure they all had it memorised. The last thing he needed was one of them wandering his house because they couldn't remember the way back up.


	6. 6 - Uncovering truths

A/N: Not really a fan of reading extensive answers for reviews in the author's note, so I'll just put it after the chapter. Again, thank you guys for the reviews and favs and follows. It's nice to see people liking it as much as me (though what I like the most so far is the cover * - *)

Sorry if it feels things are progressing too quickly, the story just turned out that way (blame her not me). A bit of a lengthy chapter, again, I cut it and the other part will be posted sometime between tomorrow and the day after. Hopefully, it will be a roughly 3k words chap.

* * *

6 - Uncovering truths

This house was so much fun. When you entered the house there were books everywhere and he could even _read_ them! Mr Snape even showed them secret passages to get to other parts of the house. Dinner was really good; Twinky was a good cook. They ate meatloaf with sautéed vegetables. Harry couldn't believe his luck, he ate three whole meals in one single day and there was meat in each one of them. Maybe, if that went on, he would even start to grow a little. Maybe he would be as tall as Mr Snape one day! He was sleeping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley in the same room; it was like in the hospital again...

Harry squirmed and rolled and tossed and turned. Maybe he drank too much milk during dinner. He wasn't used to drinking it at all or eating that much in a day. Uncle Vernon would go crazy again with how much his Aunt Petunia was spending on Harry... _Oh. The bathroom light is on!_ Harry went to wait by the door for Mr Snape to finish his business so he could use the toilet himself. He was looking down admiring the horses on _his_ new pyjamas - _he_ had pyjamas, imagine it! - when the man's voice startled him back to reality.

"-not looking sleepy. Was the bed not up to your standards?" Mr Snape was sneering.

"No. I mean, yes. I mean, it's soft... Maybe too soft to me-" Harry clamped his mouth shut. Uncle Vernon taught him well how to be grateful for having as much as he did. And here he was, the best day of his life and he was already being ungrateful. Mr Snape even fed him, what if he said he wouldn't help Aunt Petunia anymore because Harry was such an ungrateful freak?

"Harry?" He snapped his head up immediately upon hearing his name. Mr Snape was calling him by name! He was just called Mr Potter, which was totally fine and made Harry feel important. But to be called by his name like he was his friend... Well, he was friends with Harry's mother so maybe he would... with Harry... "You spaced out again. You were going to use the toilet, were you not?" Mr Snape held the door open for Harry.

"Ah, yes, I was. Thank you!" He rushed in and the door was closed. Harry did his business fast and was surprised to see the man still outside waiting for him.

"Considering you are hardly anywhere near exhausted, I'll offer you to accompany me in my study. I will be doing some research; however, you may read a book or two that would fetch more to your tastes."

"Yes, Mr Snape." Again, Harry was beaming with happiness. He would be allowed to read _more_. Mr Snape was really a nice man, he didn't even tell Harry off for not sleeping. Maybe he would let Harry choose a book by himself again.

"On the couch Mr Potter." He then took two books from the shelf; of course he wouldn't let a kid go about his study. "This is the only fictional piece in this room. It's some sort of a wizarding fairy tales collection. If you have any doubts about the meaning of a word, you may look it up in this dictionary. It is one of a kind; you just have to write the word on the first page and it will give you all the meanings it knows of. Obviously, you can still do it the other way."

"Thank you, Mr Snape." Mr Snape was so nice, he chose a fairy tale book just for Harry, and they were for wizards! Wizards just like Harry! He even made sure Harry could understand everything in the book! Harry opened his book right away and plunged into the magical fairy tale world.

* * *

Severus sat behind his desk and, for a while, he observed the boy reading. Seeing the boy thank him and read a book chosen by Severus himself was... strange. Not even in Severus wildest dreams would he have thought to have such an interaction with a _Potter_. He needed to reign in his temper so as to not snap at the boy, it was not his fault he was born with his father's face. Overall, that's a given, really. At least this time Severus had salvaged the situation, from what Petunia told him that afternoon, the boy most likely wasn't even used to sleeping in a bed. Only when seeing those green eyes had Severus remembered the boy's life, Lily always had her way in grounding him; even after a decade being dead she still has, it seems. Severus would do good to always remember the boy is also Lily's, such a pity he apparently inherited his father's deplorable eyesight. Maybe that would be a good start to the list of problems Severus had to solve for them.

The most pressing areas Severus should cover were health, finances and education. Less pressing but just as important would be dealing with Vernon. The old man's mind must have already been addled a decade ago to think a magical child could be anywhere near that man, any child for that matter, really. What father would let his son grow to the size of a baby whale without even caring about all the health problems that would bring, not to mention the beating to _fix him_? The old codger forcing a man like Severus to teach children was just proof enough of his deranged mind, but at least he would do his job right and care for the pests. And what of their neighbours? School teachers? Weren't they supposed to notice things like that? Severus filed that information to contemplate later, now he needed to focus on the pressing matters. The more he thought about their predicament, more issues would arise, he was sure; so, pressing matters.

Against his better judgement, he needed to take care of their health only once they were done with Gringotts and the boys' school supplies. Perhaps they could visit a shop to procure a more fitting pair of glasses for the boy while there or verify the possibility of reversing his eye condition. School supplies were easy enough to procure as well as a few introductory books the boys would need, they knew nothing of the wizarding world after all; Severus was fully committed to remedying that.

Severus took another moment to watch the boy reading on his couch, he was finally showing the first signs of sleepiness. Severus had to refrain from casting a cushioning charm to make the boy more comfortable, it would only serve to disrupt him. Such a precious boy, the son of his precious friend. Severus truly loved Lily, asking for clemency for her life and ensuring he did all he could to protect her was the minimum. Such a pity to have lost her friendship over an adolescent outburst. _Did she receive my apology letter?_ He had sent one only once, however, it was never neither returned nor answered. It may be that it was redirected somewhere or stored at a safe place like, say, Gringotts. If that were true only the boy almost asleep on his couch would be able to reach it, better leave sleeping lions lie.

 _Now, what to prepare for Gringotts?_ Not so much to prepare as _be_ prepared. The boy didn't even know about magic and from Petunia's tale he only had the baby clothes he was dressed in a note and a blanket on him upon entering her house, so certainly he does not have a key to the vaults he indubitably has. Potter was a right prat, nevertheless, he _was_ rich. Old money like that wouldn't end in a decade of child support for his son. Without a key, they would need to prove they were who they alleged to be, with goblins that usually meant blood. Severus could hint the missing key to them, _that_ would be an interesting interaction to watch. Going into the boy's family vault would prove a hard, though rewarding, task. The boy was sure to grant Severus that beaming smile with even green twinkling eyes if he was to provide memories of his parents. They might be permitted to take a portrait or family album, he should make sure to gather what he could from his own possessions; those would be only Lily's mementoes, of course.

Severus had to shoot a levitating charm quickly on the books he had lent the boy, he was finally asleep. He levitated them back to their place and a blanket he kept in his study for comfort purposes over to cover the boy. Now Severus could make real progress with his preparations for the next day without being distracted by Lily's boy... hopefully. _This will be a long night and tomorrow an even longer day, better make use of a Pepper-Up._

* * *

 _-pop_ \- "Master bes waiting for yous in the kitchen with young Harry Potter. Breakfast is served." _-pop-_

Petunia started with the sound, it would take time getting used to the sound. They were certainly a useful lot, maybe she could get one to help around the house, she ought to ask Severus about that. But this was one confusing house, what with all the _secret passages_. _Were all wizarding houses strange like this? Would it be bad if theirs were a normal and regular one?_

"No, mum. It's the other book for the kitchen."

"Of course, sweetie. How could I forget?" Petunia pulled the right one this time and followed her son into the kitchen.

"Good Morning, Aunt Petunia." Harry was smiling at her with a milk moustache and Severus was smiling fondly at him. _Well, at least it seems we can trust him with Harry._

"Good Morning, dear. Severus." He just regarded her with a nod and went back to reading his strange... _Was that a newspaper?_ and glancing at the boys. Petunia took her morning tea and toasts in silence just watching Harry tell Dudley about some strange story he read the day before. Breakfast was over now Petunia couldn't delay her talk with the boys any longer. The full explanation would have to wait, though, a short one was necessary; they would need to use Harry's money, after all. Severus led them back to the room he used to receive them the day before and was about to start talking. Petunia cut through, she had to say what she had planned to say before she lost the little courage she surmised for it.

"Dudley. Harry. Before we go, there are a few things I want you to keep in mind. I don't know what you understood from yesterday at the bank, so I'll try to explain shortly what little I can. For the past years, we have been living off Harry's inheritance. Yes, dear, your parents didn't leave you unprotected. And I'm sor-"

"Yes, Petunia, you can go on and bore us with your endless excuses and apologies, we have nothing better to do in any case." He had so much venom dripping from his remark Petunia just closed her mouth and looked at him with widening eyes. Of course, he couldn't, or wouldn't, let her recover enough to answer. "What is important you know before going is that Harry is most likely well provided for. Also, he is the only one of you who actually has any wizarding money, as such, it would be easier if he would agree to lend some for buying his cousin's school supplies. Will you, Harry?"

"If I have any, of course I will. But-" Petunia tried to come back into the discussion but was cut off again just like Harry.

"Good. Now on the rules and procedures. It is imperative you do not stray from me. We'll be going to Diagon Alley, which is a popular wizarding shopping district in London, as such, it is always bustling with people. Our first stop will be the bank where we will most likely spend the bigger part of our day. Afterwards, we may shop for your school supplies and perhaps a new pair of glasses for you Mr Potter. At the bank try and be polite, if you have any questions you may ask them as long as you are objective about it. Goblins do not like it when wizards waste their time with needless anecdotes or with evasive talking. Am I clear?" He looked directly at Petunia like _she_ was the child here. Before she could do anything, the boys had already answered and he was talking again. "Now we will be travelling by the means of the _floo_." He went on to explain how it worked. Petunia could only resent his treatment of her, had she made a mistake in trusting him?

* * *

Dudley landed in a heap on the floor of the strange pub. His mum helped him up in time to not be in the way of Mr Snape and his cousin's landing, they had decided to come in pairs. Floo travel was really fun, you walked right into the fire and _it didn't burn_. Magic is brilliant! Why would anyone want to take it away? His father was mad to think Dudley had some sort of problem for being a wizard, he would show him one day how wonderful magic is. Harry even looked a bit different with some magic Mr Snape did on him, for whatever reason, he said it was best to cover Harry's scar.

"Let us be on our way then." Mr Snape guided them to the back of the pub after greeting the man behind the counter. The man was missing lots of teeth and had such a strange face; maybe magic couldn't solve everything after all.

Mr Snape used his stick- _wand_ , Dudley had to remember the names of the magical stuff, to tap the wall a few times and it just _opened_. Magic really was, well magical. The wall folded away to let them true just like in the TV, if that wasn't magical enough what was on the other side definitely was: _a whole street!_ Dudley made sure he stuck near his mum and Mr Snape; he even took his cousin by the hand so he wouldn't get lost. Dudley just knew Mr Snape would get scary if they got lost, he didn't want his mum to be on his bad side because of them. He glanced at his cousin and, sure as hell, he was looking everywhere at once, just like in London. Good thing Dudley had his hand in a firm grip, now he wouldn't get lost no matter what. _Wait, would you go to hell if you were a wizard?_

But Mr Snape didn't exaggerate when he said there would be a lot of people in here. _And what's with those strange clothes, the colours were all wrong, even for Dudley!_ Mr Snape's clothes at least didn't assault his eyes. Harry was just showing him another strange thing in a shop window nearby when Mr Snape stopped in front of a huge building.

"This is Gringotts, the wizarding bank. Do not touch anything; also try not to talk until we are in the safety of a goblin office." He led them up the stairs and through the gigantic bronze like doors. Maybe it was real bronze, but if they wanted to show off their money wouldn't gold be better? There were two _guards_ at the doors, once inside Dudley saw other _people_ like them. Mr Snape went to talk with one of them, and they were here to talk with goblins. _Oh, so they're goblins!_ They didn't look human; Dudley would ask when they went into the manager's office. The goblin talking with Mr Snape lead them through maze-like corridors and finally into a room. _This must be the manager's office then._

"Your manager will be here shortly, Lord Prince."

The goblin was leaving so Dudley had to be fast with his questions; Mr Snape said it was fine if they were asked inside the office. Dudley got up and grabbed the goblin by the wrist to stop him and asked at once. "Are you human?"

* * *

Severus' eyes widened, he hadn't expected this question so soon and certainly not in front of _a goblin_. That was it they were doomed, better try and salvage what he could before-

"I am certainly not human. If you missed my appearance, I am a _goblin_. And damn proud to be one. Now unhand me."

"So goblins are not human?" It was just the kind of lucky Severus had, not one but both boys were asking stupid questions. He should have taught them the basics about goblins before coming.

"No. They are goblins. Humans are not the only magical beings in the world. I apologise for their behaviour. They were muggle raised and I still have not had the time to properly instruct them."

"I see. Do properly inst-" He was suddenly cut off by Harry, of all people. The boy made his cousin let go of the arm his was still gripping and went to touch a little chain embedded in the goblin's ear.

"Does it hurt?" The goblin seemed as taken aback as Severus with the concerned tone the boy asked. Severus was even more astounded with the way his recently arrived manager handled the boy's question. _Was he being gentle?_

"It most likely hurt when weaving it into the skin. Rest assured it does not hurt anymore them your pair of glasses on your face." He led the boys back to their chairs and dismissed the still speechless goblin.

"Goodbye, Mr Urlaff. Uh, have a nice day." Harry really was a wonderful box full of nice surprises. How anyone could treat such a sweet boy harshly was truly a mystery.

"An interesting lot you have here, Lord Prince. May they be the reason for your visit? I did not expect to see you for another couple weeks."

"Interesting indeed. And they are part of the reason, yes. Although I admit to wanting my account's review bit sooner this time, I would like to leave with them if at all possible. Also, a few new investment suggestions would be welcome even if not necessary. Now I believe introductions are in need and perhaps will clarify some of our purposes." Severus waved his wand cancelling the glamours on the boys. "Petunia Dursley; her muggleborn son, Dudley Dursley; and her nephew, Harry Potter."

"A really interesting lot. Harry Potter, his muggleborn wizard cousin and muggle aunt you say." The goblin seemed to notice the same peculiarity as he did. "I'll have to ask you to prove they are who you say they are. In the meantime, we'll await for Ragnok, he's the Potter's accounts manager. And this is the folder with the requested review of your account, Lord Prince." The goblin handed Severus the folder. He then proceeded to place a piece of parchment in front of each _guest_ and extended his hand to another's in his.

"Petunia you go first to show the boys there's nothing to fear. Alnuk will cut your finger to extract two drops of your blood; I'll heal it immediately after. The blood will go in the parchment and attest to who you truly are. Now give him your hand." Petunia was clearly reluctant but as expected did it to reassure her boys. Surprisingly the boys appeared more at ease with the procedure than Petunia, to be young really was a gift.

Severus tried to see the trees forming on the sheets of parchment but Alnuk snatched them away quickly. He was frowning upon whatever information was revealed when another goblin entered the office. _This, presumably, should be Ragnok._ The sheets were passed onto him who also frowned at the information before addressing them. "Mrs Dursley, is it your wish that Lord Prince be present while we discuss yours and Mr Potter's situation?"

"Yes." Severus was as lost as Petunia on this, not that he showed any of his confusion.

"Do you have anything else to discuss with your manager, Lord Prince?"

"Not at this time, no."

"Very well, do follow me to my office then."

"Thank you, Mr Alnuk." This time both boys greeted at the same time.

"May your magic flourish and your dealings be always in your favour, Mr Potter, Mr Dursley." Severus was tiring out from so many surprises, better to expect the boys to be treated like goblins from now on.

"You should answer with: May your gold flow and your enemies perish." The other goblin instructed and the boys were only happy to comply.

* * *

They followed Ragnok to his office where tea and a few biscuits waited for them. Severus wasn't even surprised this time around; what with the boys being liked by the goblins, surely they were bound to have _some_ advantage. Petunia and the boys sat and served themselves, Severus was satisfied enough with the provided tea. Ragnok was going through files and files piling folders upon folders on his desk before coming to sit with them. Severus let the goblin lead the conversation; he would only contribute if and when necessary. Something was not right and Severus needed more information as to assert what.

"Perhaps starting from the less troublesome part would be best. Mrs Dursley, I understand you are Mr Potter's mother's sister, yes?"

"Yes. Lily was my sister. But we came here for Harry, what does it matter who I am?" Severus could even begin to describe the wrongness of that statement. From the look on Ragnok's face, he too agreed with him.

"Before Mr Potter was born, Lord Potter came with his wife, that would be your sister, to adjust his will, a necessity in times of war. Lady Potter wanted to have a family tapestry tailored to show the family from her side. As she was believed to be a muggleborn witch, the tapestry would start from her and show all her magical descendants. It was supposed to be given to her son upon his eleventh birthday in the occasion of her not being alive."

"Are you implying she was _not_ a muggleborn? What of her parents?" Severus was right to question so soon considering Ragnok broad toothy smile.

"Lily Potter, nee Evans, was what wizards call a pure-blooded witch, as were her parents." He was still showing his toothy smile, so there was still information hidden.

"That's impossible! My parents are as normal as me. And I would remember if they adopted Lily!" It would not be far-fetched to think Lily adopted if spells and potions were involved, but why would anyone go to such lengths as to mask her as a muggleborn?

"Yes, they are indeed." With that, Severus got a few pieces of the puzzle together.

"They were squibs." That would explain Petunia's son being a wizard when it's rare enough to have more than one magical in a muggle family and jumping one generation is simply unheard of.

"What are squibs, Mr Snape? Is it a bad thing?"

"No, Mr Dursley, it's not exactly bad. A squib is merely a magical human who does not have magic in enough quantities as to perform spells. Their magic is only enough to protect and heal them faster, it also lets them live longer than a non-magical person."

"And how did they lose their magic?" The boy widened his eyes in such a comical way that even Severus had to concede a chuckle

"They did not lose their magic, only were born with too little of it. Quite like your mother. Now, Ragnok, if you could elaborate more on the specifics of them being squibs." The boy at least seemed assured enough to know he wouldn't lose his magic, both of them actually.

"Yes, Lord Prince. You are right in your assumptions, Lily Evans parents were squibs. And Mrs Dursley is also one, which brings us to the first matter at hand. Since squibs are usually cast out of the family, you will have no claim as to any type of unclaimed inheritance. Alas, your squib ancestors made sure the first wizard or witch to be born from their line would receive something upon entering the wizarding world, that as bestowed upon your sister when discovered.

"Seeing that it was an inheritance unrelated to the Potters, Lily Potter wrote a will where you are one of the beneficiaries." Severus could smell the new catch, but that brought up another line of questioning to him: why wasn't the will executed?

"Where is that will them? Why was I not informed of any inheritance? Why didn't I receive anything?" It is glorious when someone acts the way you need them to without any prompting. Severus could go on observing.

"A curious question for an even more curious answer. You didn't receive anything because the will is yet to be read. As for being informed, any and all owls after the first one were sent back unopened." _After the first one?_

"Then read it."

"What do we need to prepare for the reading of the will, Ragnok? Who else do we need to contact?" If there were one thing goblins hated more than wizards that was being ordered by them. Severus would be damned if he let the goblin's good wishes towards the boys be wasted away by Petunia, or anyone else. He added the matter of _why_ it wasn't read for later.

"I believe all mentioned are present. That's all the requirements."

"I see. Is it possible to do so now?" Severus had to cut Petunia off, again. He sent her a glare he reserved to stupid potions mistakes for good measure. _I dare her to open her mouth without being prompted again._ Ragnok pulled an envelope from one of the piles and extended his hand to Harry, who didn't need any more incentive to present his, and used a drop of his blood on the seal. The letter gained life as a howler would and spoke its content with his beloved Lily's voice.

 _This is the will of Lily Jasmine Potter, nee Evans._

 _Hello and sorry that you have to be contacted on such a sad occasion. I was aiming to be formal in this will but as you know, it doesn't come to me quite that easily. Maybe if I had lived longer... Thank you for being here Petunia, Severus and hopefully Harry. It is a sad day when a mother has to worry if her unborn son will be present to the reading of her will, not because he could want to be somewhere else but because he could be as gone as her._

 _First of all, I want to say that I forgave you long ago Severus. I never ceased to think of you as a friend, though some of your choices pained me. I hope that you survive where I didn't; you deserve to live life more than anyone I know. And I can only hope that you will be fine when it's all said and done._

 _Petunia, if you are here then you probably heard already that even if you can't perform magic you are magical. I always told you you were special in your own way, didn't I? Now we have proof! It's a pity mum and dad aren't here to hear this, at least they got to see both their baby girls married, right? I wish we had more time together, that our children could grow up to be good friends as we once were. About the children, there is a possibility of yours being a full-fledged wizard or witch, so you better be prepared to go through what mum and dad went with me._ _James is really sorry for being the catalyst of yet another fight between us and told me he wanted to do something for you to apologise. He is not good with those and, sincerely, we don't know how much longer we will leave -clearly not enough if this is being read- so he'll make his apology in material goods._

 _As you already know James has wealth enough to support a few generations, as such I don't feel guilty about letting the inheritance of our squib ancestors to be passed onto the next wizard or with born from your line. The house we grew up was left to me when our parents died, now I'm leaving that to you Petunia. I've altered it to become a magical house; Gringotts excel at those too! If you ever need a magical place to leave, there you have it._

 _For Harry, I leave my family albums and journals. I would leave the family tapestry, but James convinced me against making it after discovering my ancestors were cast out of their families. He says that would be trampling over their wishes to cut ties with the families who abandoned them. I would like if you showed Harry the tapestry inside our ancestors' vault, though, it shows our family since our grandparents. It's is but a tiny one compared to those old pureblood families, but I'd like him to know where he comes from._

 _Thank you again for coming in such a sad time._

 _Love,_

 _Lily J. Potter_

Lily forgave him. She had received his letter and forgiven him. Severus had to covertly dab away a sole tear that had escaped his control. He risked a glance around, Petunia was in tears with her son consoling her, and Harry was still entranced by his mother melodious voice. The goblin handed the letter to Harry, as was expected, and began to sort through his files again, perhaps to give them time to compose themselves. Severus moved the whirlwind of emotions to the deepest part of his mind; he needed to be objective now if he really wanted to help them. He would make sure Lily's forgiveness wasn't pointless. She would be proud of him even from the afterlife.

"Ragnok, usually muggleborns have the current Hogwarts' Headmaster as a guardian. For a half-blood or pureblood, that would be their parents or the closest magical relative. Is a squib entitled to guardianship over a child?" It would not matter who is Harry's current guardian if it was possible for Petunia to be the one. Again, the toothy smile answered his questions before the goblin spoke.

"From what I'm privy to know, it is. That is dealt within the ministry, but we can deal with such a request if you would hire a goblin representative."

Yes, they would like to sell their services. Unfortunately, they needed such services. Goblins would be faster and less conspicuous, and the most important aspect: Severus name wouldn't be implicated. They could also handle Vernon, Petunia had no need of him and Severus would die before letting that man near those kids again. He had to consult with her first; the best moment to do so was now. If they let their momentum pass, Harry's current guardian would be alerted and all would be for nought.

"Is there a place where I can discuss this issue with Mrs Dursley?"

"You may use this office. I'll come back in, say, an hour?"

"That would be acceptable, yes."

* * *

"Tuney." Petunia sniffed some more before paying attention to Severus. She knew he was only trying to help, but after everything that happened... And hearing her sister's voice after so long was just too much for her.

"Sorry. You were saying?" Petunia turned to where the goblin Ragnok was but his seat was empty. Only Petunia, the boys and Severus were in the room.

"I know this is a lot to process right now, still it is preferable if we could solve the... practical matters as soon as possible." There was some kind of urgency in his tone, even if his face was blank.

"What do you mean?"

"Magical wills are usually read right after the death of the wizard. As you can see, Lily's was only read now. Therefore, I have reason to believe the same happened to Potter's. We can only speculate as to why then again there are more pressing issues to be dealt with at this moment. You may be your son and Harry's legal guardian for all things muggle, that is not true in the wizarding world, at least not yet."

"What does that change?" Petunia understood he wanted her to realise something, but she was just too tired and emotionally worn out to actually think about it. He seemed to notice her exhaustion. He let out a long sigh before beginning his explanation.

"I'll try to make it brief and as clear as possible. A child's magical guardian has some extent of power over everything the child has; one of their responsibilities _is_ to watch over the child's financial life and inheritance if the child has any. This means someone already has access to both your boys' inheritance. Also, Harry's guardian has possession of a vault key. Since Harry has been known to be a wizard child for a long time and never attempted to contact him, we can assume his intentions are not in Harry's best interests. You have the... problem with your husband to be solved, still.

"You being magical, even as a squib, makes you able to be the boys' magical guardian, which would be preferable. The goblins offered their services. Even if a bit expensive, it is a better and faster option than going to the ministry and trying to do it by yourself. Not only doing so would alert the boy's guardians, it would also mean they would have time and chance to overthrow your request. By employing the goblins your divorce could be handled faster than by muggle means, both you _and_ your son would be Evans by the time he departed to Hogwarts, maybe even before that. With that path cleared and you moving to the house Lily left you, Vernon would only be able to come near you or your children if you let him. I understand that was one pressing matter to you, yes?"

He had talked a lot of things Petunia still didn't grasp fully, yet she got the overall message loud and clear. If she wanted to really protect her children, she had to get guardianship of them through the goblins, make sure she divorced Vernon and move to her childhood home. It would be expensive but it was the only sure way to protect them, the savings would serve a higher purpose after all.

"I see your point, Severus. Can you handle that too? I'm sorry for relying so much on you when only Lily was your friend..." And she was. She had treated him so badly when they were young, and now...

"I can. Don't worry about that, I just want to make sure the boys are well cared and well looked after."

"Thank you, Severus. Really." The door opened again to reveal the goblin Ragnok coming back into the room.

* * *

"Have you thought your options through, Lord Prince?"

"Yes, Ragnok. We are inclined to accept the goblins' services to handle the guardianship of both boys _if_ you would also be able to provide a solution for another legal matter." Severus didn't miss the goblin addressing _him_ instead of the one who was supposedly their future guardian and implying _he_ was the one with the power to decide, not that it was a lie.

"If it's within our power."

"Mrs Dursley would like to divorce her muggle husband and go back to being Ms Evans. Her son would also become Mr Evans, of course. It would be appreciated if you could handle all muggle matters related to that. She will be moving into the house she inherited from her sister within the day if it is suitable for living. What type of protections have been put in place?"

"As long as the fee is paid we can take care of your muggle problems as well as magical. The house should be fit for living, it's been cared by a house elf. As for the protections, you'll encounter the regular wards for magical houses with the addition of a blood ward keyed to intention. No one with the intention to harm in any way anyone inside the ward would be able to pass."

"Is there one to lessen the effects of accidental magic between the _regular_ wards?" Ragnok merely nodded his agreement. "I see. Petunia will sign the contract. How would you prefer the payment?"

"Not asking for the price?" Severus only dismissed the notion with a subtle wave of the hand. Ragnok knew well enough how much they needed his services, bargaining would only serve to increase the price. "Which vault would like to take the payment from?"

"Mine if I have enough." Petunia's voice was a bit shaky still. _She probably didn't notice it was so._

"Then it shall be done. An owl will be sent with the guardianship papers along with the muggle ones. Here are the folders containing all the information pertaining the Evans. Unfortunately, I am only able to provide Mr Potters new key to his trust vault. His files will be available once the guardianship issue is solved."

"That's to be expected. Do include a statement regarding transactions made in the last decade if at all possible. We will make a withdrawal from the boys' vaults before going." Severus took the files and put them in one of the many pockets in his robes, he would go through them later.

"Naturally. Griphook will show you to your vaults." Severus and Petunia were on their way out when the boys stopped and turned back to address Ragnok.

"Thank you, Mr Ragnok. May your gold flow and.. and.." The greeting proved too much for Harry who was promptly helped by his cousin. "And your enemies perish." And he finished with one of his beaming smiles. Certainly, the boy hadn't understood half what happened in this room, but it didn't stop him to be overly thankful, it seemed.

Ragnok answered with another toothy smile and the proper answer. "May your magic flourish and your dealings be always in your favour, Mr Potter, Mr Evans."

* * *

 **Other notes:**

About the bashing: you'll see it when you see it. I can only hope you'll understand it. About McGonagall specifically, well even if she great in canon she still had pretty lousy moments as head of a house, reread the books and analyse it, she was downright neglectful in quite a number of occasions - even more aggravated by her being deputy headmistress.

About grammatical errors: please point them out to me. English is not my first language, I do my best to make it good but I'm only human. And as a side note, you'll probably notice Harry is not well versed in English, so he is bound to make mistakes sometimes. He spent his whole life having to hold back his intellect, that has consequences that will correct themselves over time. All in all, Harry has a good grasp on English but his speech is simple/limited and sometimes he slips. One thing I learned is that reading expands a child's vocabulary exponentially and way faster than any type of studying, and Harry didn't have much of either. I like to narrate as close to the characters perception as possible (for me) and I adapt the speech accordingly, like simple words for Harry and Dudley, or complex sentences for Snape and pseudo-difficult speech to Petunia (who likes to think herself sophisticated when in reality she's not).


	7. 7 - Braving the new world

A/N: As always, thank you for reading. Answering one guest with a pertinent question: No, Harry is not a brat. That would be Dudley's role. Answering the other guest: Really? By the way, you might want to Google "The Iron Maiden"; they have really good songs. Now seriously, either you stop reading or you read the full story, don't bitch about something you don't understand and/or don't have context. For all you other cutes who read, this is a chapter where we'll see solely Harry's thoughts on things. Enjoy the rainbows!

* * *

7 - Braving the new world

Harry tried to restrain his impulse to touch his mum's letter for the thousandth time; he touched it anyway. His mum's voice was so beautiful and gentle he felt like she was right there with him, cradling him. He _actually had a mum_. Of course he knew he had, but it still amazed him. This made it real, so real. He always wanted to have a mum. He had Aunt Petunia, but she was _Dudley's_ mum. Dudley was really lucky to have a mum and a dad. Walking in silence through the bank's dark corridors Harry could admit he wanted to get away from the Dursleys. But his Aunt Petunia was being so nice now; she even let him have the guest room and tucked him in, not to mention all the food. _She gave Harry a sundae just like Dudley's yesterday, even a banana split!_

Harry should be thankful; Uncle Vernon always told him how ungrateful kids didn't deserve to have anything good. So when Mr Snape asked Harry to let them use his money to buy Dudley's school things, he agreed. The only problem was that Harry had no money. They wouldn't be happy with him when they discovered the truth. But, most of all, he didn't want to disappoint his Mr Snape and his Aunt Petunia. He didn't want them to think he was an ungrateful kid. Now, how would he get money? Harry could clean, cook, paint, even sew, but money is not something that appeared in front of you. Or was it?

"Can we create money with magic?" Harry blurted before he could hold his impulses down. Everyone stopped and looked at Harry like he had three heads. Well, to be fair, Mr Snape seemed more amused than angry or... or... or exasperated. He was also the one who answered him.

"No, not exactly. No. You have to earn your gold, just like in the muggle world. But _you can_ make something magical and sell it."

Harry nodded; he understood that. He touched his mum's letter again. Right, his mum's letter. She said _James_ was rich so she could leave her inheritance to Aunt Petunia. _What was an inheritance, anyway?_ Harry should have brought the dictionary with him, though that was Mr Snape's so he wouldn't have been able. Harry noticed his Mr Snape coming close and tensed. He didn't know why, it just felt right to tense up.

"You may... share your doubts with me _if_ you do so inconspicuously." _What_ is _inconspicuously?_ Harry looked up to Mr Snape and his eyes looked so inviting he couldn't help but fire away his questions.

"What's an inheritance?... Sir" He mentally patted himself for remembering to add the title. _Must not forget to be respectful._

"That would be earthly possessions one receives upon the passing of another if the passing one had wished so." He pauses for a moment thinking and Harry still can't quite say he understood. Thankfully, Mr Snape didn't ask anything and continued talking. "For example, when my grandfather died he left everything he owned, houses, money, jewels, books, to me."

"Oh." Now, _that_ Harry could understand. "And who is James?"

"That's your father's name." Mr Snape didn't seem all that well now. Harry only knew he wasn't angry from the barely there pat on the head he received. _Better not ask anything anymore._

They had arrived at a sort of underground station with a few _carts_ about. One of the carts stopped in front of them and they were told to board. _Where is the seatbelt?_ While Harry was looking around for it, the cart left. It was so fast. They turned, loop, went upside down, straight up, straight down, to all sides in _all_ ways. As fast as they started they stopped.

"That was _so_ cool! The best roller coaster _ever!_ Mum, can we do it again? Please?" Dudley was hopping up and down and Harry could only agree. This was much better than floo. Floo wasn't really great.

"Key?" Mr Griphook asked extending his hand. Harry was about to give him the key he received earlier from Mr Ragnok but was cut off by Mr Snape handing him another one.

"This is one of my vaults. I will take a few things I need before you stop by yours. You may look around. _Do not_ touch anything."

And in they went. The vault was bigger them the Dursleys' guest room and full of stuff. There was a corner with neat piles of gold, silver and bronze like coins; shelves with jewels; more shelves with books; some strange looking trunks in another corner. _Maybe this is Mr Snape's inheritance from his grandpa._

Soon enough they were out riding the cart again. They stopped in a vault Mr Snape told was Aunt Petunia's, and Dudley's, so she handed the key _she_ received from Mr Ragnok. This vault wasn't as neat as Mr Snape's but was fuller. The piles of coins were really big, bigger than Mr Snape's. He told Aunt Petunia to get 300 hundred coins: 150 gold, 100 silver and 50 bronze ones. Harry went to help his Aunt Petunia and his cousin get the coins while Mr Snape searched for what he wanted. _What could he be looking for in Aunt Petunia's vault?_ Whatever it was, he seemed to have found. Mr Griphook didn't look happy with Mr Snape. At least Harry didn't have to worry about getting money to give them.

Another cart ride and it was Harry giving his key to Mr Griphook. _Okay,_ this _is a big vault._ Harry's vault was huge; their whole house could fit inside. The only things inside were _huge_ piles of coins. Harry looked back and Mr Snape only nodded and told Harry to get the same amount his Aunt Petunia did. Dudley helped him get them into the pouch Mr Griphook gave him and out they went. Harry was shocked and stunned still by the time they left the bank and entered some restaurant nearby.

* * *

After the food arrived, Mr Snape waved his wand and Harry saw something glowing from the corner of his eyes, but when he turned to see what it was it wasn't there anymore. He turned back to the table as his Mr Snape began a new explanation about wizard stuff.

"As I have mentioned before, wizarding currency is different from its muggle counterpart. In the British Wizarding World, we have the types of coins: the bronze one called Knut; the silver one called Sickle; and the gold one called Galleon." He got a few other coins from his pouch and began piling them. "The Galleon has the highest value of the three, the Sickle goes in the middle, and the Knut has the lowest value. One may exchange 29 Knuts for 1 Sickle; for a Galleon one may do so with 17 Sickles, or its equivalent in Knuts."

"So wizards only work with cash? They don't use cheques or cards?" Aunt Petunia asked frowning. "So if I have to buy something expensive like a fridge I would have to carry all that money around?"

"That is what is practiced by the masses, yes. Nevertheless, Gringotts is able to provide cheque slips for what they call valuable customers. You will perhaps receive one when all the proceedings started today are dealt with. I suggested you-" He motioned to show he was talking about Aunt Petunia _and_ Harry. "-take out that high amount of money so we wouldn't be hassled over the costs of the school's requested supplies and the ones not mandatory but equally important.

"On another account, as you must be aware is the same in the muggle world, _cash_ is harder to track. I believe I emphasised enough the need to be inconspicuous in our activities so as to not alert the wrong kind to them. Since we are on the subject, I will remind you of the importance of not calling the boy by his name whilst here in Diagon Alley. The outcome would most certainly not be to our advantage nor liking."

Mr Snape grimaced. For a man like him to grimace it must be something really bad. Better not say anything about that, maybe he could get a nickname. Well, they had to call him something, and he really couldn't picture Mr Snape calling him _dear_ like his Aunt Petunia did. Not that he would like it if he did, just... "So what am I being called?"

"Dear?" Aunt Petunia looked at him in confusion and Mr Snape only got one eyebrow up.

"Ooh, we could call him Potty!" Harry scrunched his face at that; he always wanted to have a nickname, but a nice one. He'd rather be called baby than _potty_. He kept quiet though, what if his cousin got any worse ideas and started calling him _baby potty_.

"I see. You might have presented a very good idea indeed, Mr Durs- Evans." Harry looked at him with shock and betrayal. _Was his Mr Snape really going to call him that?_ It was so bad he could cry. "Alas, I believe a more fitting name would be preferable."

Aunt Petunia agreed with Mr Snape to Harry's relief. For a few moments, the two were thinking what would be a good nickname for Harry, though they had to stop every minute to shut down Dudley's awful suggestions. Finally, Mr Snape looked like he had the best idea ever, at least from the look on his face. "How about _Raven_?"

"That black bird that is an omen of death?" Aunt Petunia wasn't pleased and showed it.

"I believe we are thinking of the same bird, yes, but it is hardly an omen of _death_. While yes, they are a scavenger type of bird and as such, it is not uncommon to find it near a corpse, Ravens are also curious creatures by nature, which is also to be said about Harry. The bird is also intelligent, extremely so, and I _hope_ Harry would be an intelligent individual. It is mentioned in a number of cultures as well, but you can certainly research the desired information at a later date. So Raven it is."

Mr Snape didn't leave much room to argue over that, not that Harry wanted anyway. He was quite happy his Mr Snape thought he was intelligent, he even felt his insides churning and warming in that way it always did when his Aunt Petunia hugged or kissed him or called him _dear_.

* * *

Lunch was nice. Mr Snape told them at the end where they would have to go and to always keep close. The shops were all so interesting, in each Mr Snape explained a bit of what they sold and what their use was. They got everything except their robes, books and wands. Mr Snape was really nice to tell them to buy double the amount of ingredients in the apothecary so they wouldn't have problems if they had to redo their potions or wanted to practice them.

They were now entering Madam Malkin's shop. Mr Snape said that by the time they got to go there it would have very few people inside if any and he was right. They were the only customers there.

"Why, hello Professor Snape. It is nice to see you again. Looking for new robes? I have just received some of that silk you liked last time, only it is green with swirl patterns in a darker shade." The woman had a strange glint in her eyes. It wasn't bad, but she seemed really amused like she just did the best prank in the world.

"My, Madam Malkin, how thoughtful of you. Do reserve it for me; I may have use for it in the near future. It will certainly make an excellent robe for my godson; I was still wondering what would be a good gift." Mr Snape's voice was so silky it sent shivers up Harry's spine. Madam Malkin didn't seem to have liked it too.

"Of course, Professor. And you darlings? Hogwarts robes?"

"Three sets of standard robes, four of everyday ones and one set of dress robes. Each set should be complete with shirts, trousers... You surely know what complete means I believe?"

"Yes, I do know, Professor." The old lady looked about to ask something but in the end decided to just rush Harry and his cousin to stools to get measured and stuff. Harry looked back to see what his Mr Snape face was like to make her not ask anything -it was a really good trick he used all day and no one could blame Harry for trying to know the secret.

"Do fashion two sets of everyday robes and one of dress robes befitting her as well. Complete if you may. A few charms on the children's robes would not go amiss." He sat on a chair near them after showing Aunt Petunia to the stool beside Harry and pulled out a book to read while waiting for them to finish.

There wasn't much Harry could do while standing and trying the robes being measured and whatever the old lady -Madam Malkin was it?- was doing to him. The only thing he seemed able to do was think. He thought about everything good that happened to him lately, he was a wizard, his Aunt Petunia liked him, he got a letter from his mum... He actually had a mum, he even got pictures to prove it, or at least he thought he did. He really hoped those albums Mr Snape got him in Aunt Petunia's vault had him and his mum.

But really, of all the good things that happened, the best was Mr Snape. Right from the start, he was good to him; letting him read and all, even let him choose what mind you. He spent the whole day showing Harry and his family - _his family! -_ around the magical world. He even went out of his way to explain everything to them and let Harry ask all the questions he wanted, even when Harry thought them stupid. He gave Harry a really cool nickname _and_ told him he was intelligent. No wonder he was Harry's favourite person.

"Alright, we're done here, darlings. You too Mrs..."

"It is Ms Evans now. Thank you." Aunt Petunia answered accepting her helping hand to get off the stool and moving to pay from her and Harry's pouch.

"Ah, yes, right. Thank you for your patronage." She received the payment with a questioning look to Mr Snape. "Should I owl your robes?"

"Yes, owl them to Ms Petunia Evans. As for my godson's, I believe him to have grown since he was last here. Do make the proper alterations once he comes for his school robes, then you may owl them to me along with the bill."

They said their goodbyes and off they went to the bookshop. If Mr Snape's godson's gift were as beautiful as Harry thought it would be, the boy would be very happy with it. Mr Snape was a really thoughtful person. _Wait. Godson? Mr Snape has a godson?_ Somehow, that rocked Harry's world. He didn't know what think. The feeling though was like the one when he was complimented by his Mr Snape, only it was a bad feeling now and Mr Snape wasn't _his_. Really what was Harry thinking?

* * *

The bookshop had cheered Harry up; they bought lots of books to help them learn about magic and the wizarding world. Even if Mr Snape wasn't _his_... _his_... his, he did care about Harry -and Dudley, it would be good to remember- and actually seemed to like Harry. At least Harry thought he did. He pulls me closer when a big group of people passed, he brushed his hand on Harry's hair, and he even gave a tiny smile! He cared, and it was all Harry could do not to hug him.

While Harry was mulling over his feelings they arrived at the last shop they would go that day: Ollivanders. About time too, both Harry and his cousin were dead on they feet. They walked so much Harry was sure he lost half his weight.

"My! What an interesting combination-" The old man started to say only to be cut off by Mr Snape's hissing. He actually hissed.

"Yes, Mr Ollivander. A _pleasure_ to see you." Mr Snape was looking around like someone might be stalking them. "I believe you capable of discretion, yes? Or should we go for a more discreet establishment for purchasing a wand?"

"Yes. No. I hope your wand has served you well? Who might we start with?" The old man lost a few shades of colour; he was paler than a ghost now. Mr Snape motioned for Dudley to go first; it took him 10 minutes to find a wand. Now it was Harry's turn.

"I remember when I sold your parents their wands-" He paused and glanced at Mr Snape. Whatever he saw made him go back to being objective."- they were really great with them. Now let's see what will make you great, shall we?"

It was over an hour later that one finally chose Harry. He was starting to wonder if he really had magic enough to deserve a wand.

"Curious... So very curious indeed..." The old man started.

"What is?" Mr Snape had beaten Harry to the question.

"Well, you see, I remember every single wand I have ever sold." He glanced at Mr Snape again but with a thoughtful look this time. "It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand gave another feather -just one other. It is indeed very curious that it chose you when its _brother_ gave you that scar." Harry unconsciously put his hand on his forehead.

"Thank you for the information Ollivander. Petunia, pay the man." Before the old man could say anything more or Harry could ask what he meant Mr Snape was ushering them through the streets to the pub they entered from, in the fireplace and back home.

Harry was too tired to think of anything else besides eating and going to sleep. Any questions he had he could ask the next day, Mr Snape said he could ask anything after all.


	8. 8 - Happy Birthday

A/N: Thank you for new favs, follows and reviews. I hope this chapter didn't turn out too boring for you guys. Only two more and we're off to Hogwarts!

* * *

8 - Happy Birthday

Some time passed and it was the 31st. Severus was sure his Raven wouldn't be expecting anything, least of all a party, not to mention presents. For a while, Severus had thought his Raven would hate him for being a Death Eater back in the day; he should have known better. Sure, Severus went out of his way to be as vague as he could while explaining that dreadful night and the speculations behind what happened. Thank merlin he suggested his Raven read the books on recent wizarding history they bought; it seemed to appease his curiosity for the time being. The upside was that he didn't come to Severus with questions about the war; on the downside, Severus simply couldn't phantom his thoughts on the matter. At least he could be sure his Raven liked him. Merlin forbid he lose him after just lifting the weight of the guilt over losing Lily. He still felt somewhat responsible for what happened but hearing her voice saying she forgave him proved enough to appease his aching heart.

Severus chuckled remembering the fuss his Raven's cousin made over not having a _cool_ nickname. Severus now had to invest some time researching a fitting animal for him, for he would have nothing short of a cool beast. _Maybe a tiger? Those were powerful like the boy wanted to be_. The boy was indeed humorous even if he remind Severus of Harry's father a bit too much for his comfort. If people saw him now they would no doubt send him to the psychiatric ward at St. Mungo's. This was doubtless not the Severus they knew. Then again, did they know him? The real him? Apparently, there were very few of those; so few, in fact, he could count them on the fingers of merely one hand, and there would be more fingers than people. That is if he counted only the ones alive.

As he packed the freshly brewed batch of potions for the boys, he reminisced the day they were prescribed. It was a good thing the boys were too tired by the end of their trip to Diagon Alley; had they not, Severus would have brought them to the ocularist stationed there, and what a scandal would _that_ have been. Severus appreciated his owns thoughts to call on a private healer for the boys; he could be bound by oaths more easily than a mere shop owner could. He needed a healer who was competent and trustful, so he sent for the one who tended to his Dragon. The man was really an... interesting individual, although, his skills more than made up for his personality. Severus was glad for his _peculiar_ personality since the boys seemed to love it. He even invited the man over for his Raven's birthday. Severus only had gratefulness towards the man; were he not as good he claimed to be, he would have let some of the boys' health problems pass without notice or treatment. They were certainly treatable and with only a strict potions regimen, a healthy diet and enough exercising; in truth, Severus was thankful for the correction of his Raven's dreadful eyesight, which meant no more glasses to look like his father.

Every galleon used was worth the boys' health. Besides, it was not as if Severus would have a problem paying for such services if it so happened the boys couldn't. As it turned out, Ragnok agreed to take the healers wages from the boys' vaults for it was in their best interest and health _was_ an important issue to be provided for. Hopefully, they would soon get the good news regarding his Raven's guardianship, as it was the only pending problem for them. Petunia was already divorced, Vernon assured to be held in prison for the foreseeable future, and declared an Evans along with her son. From his last exchange with Ragnok, the guardianship change would be finalised any day now.

With a variety of thoughts still running through his mind on his way to the Evans, the beaming smile his Raven would bestow upon him after seeing his presents was certainly a prominent one. He could do quite a number of things for his Raven's smile, just as he had done for his Lily.

* * *

Petunia stopped decorating Harry's birthday cake as she saw an owl come in with correspondence. She took out the plate with homemade owl treats prepared by Meensy. _Meensy really is a big help._ She thought, taking the letter from the owl; it was from Gringotts. Petunia skimmed through it and smiled with the knowledge that such happy news couldn't have come on a better day. Harry's guardianship was finally hers and she didn't have to go to the Ministry. For a moment, she was really worried about that because she knew next to nothing about the wizarding world, or its customs, to make her claim on Harry and have it heard.

She had been studying as hard as her boys were to learn all she could about their world. Clearly, they had less time than she had to get used to things did but still she was sure not to slack; she had to set the example. The added bonus was that with each new thing she learned she felt closer to her sister; she was finally understanding why that world had her sister so smitten with it. She understood that that world wasn't trying to take her sister away and that her sister wasn't trying to rub in her face how better and perfect she was. No, Petunia was coming to terms with the knowledge that her sister wanted her as a part of her world from the beginning; as a matter of fact, it was her, Petunia, that was jealous of her sister having magic and made things overly difficult.

Now, Petunia was still jealous and wanted to have magic but she reigned in her bad traits, lest she snapped on her boys for something they didn't deserve. They weren't at fault for being born with magic. At least, now she was part of their world; _that_ ought to be worth something.

She was glad for magic existing now. The move from their old house to this one was so much easier with Severus help; everything they needed was packed and shrunk. They left the house like they were going on another family outing, the boys with backpacks and Petunia with her handbag. All electronics and home appliances were brought along. The appliances they didn't use were stored in a trunk in their garage; Severus assured her they wouldn't go back to normal size unless magic was used. Even everything that belonged to Vernon was brought to the new home, his documents, cigars, collections, correspondence... She still hadn't had time to go through them but they were in a spare study in the basement, for now, she wanted to concentrate on her boys and their health.

She already expected Harry to be somewhat malnourished, she was aware of the damage done. What she did not expect was for on top of malnutrition the boy to have untreated concussions and bones that were broken and healed wrong, like they were left to heal without the doctor taking a look. There were even some scarring on the boy's back. When confronted on how in hell he got those -the broken bones _and_ the scars- the boy said that 'Uncle Vernon' did those because he was being ungrateful, or didn't finish his chores, and he was just teaching Harry what happened to bad ungrateful children. Petunia was speechless facing such a revelation. Not only Harry suffered the verbal abuse from them, Vernon had to be a despicable person and do something outrageous.

But being an awful aunt wasn't enough, she had to also be an awful mother. Well, she knew her Dudders was a bit overweighted but she had thought it was just that. How wrong she was! Severus insisted the doc- healer, they are called healers in the magical world, examined her son as well; and boy, didn't he find problems?! He was also malnourished. The healer explained that it was different from Harry, in her Dudders case, he was well fed but he didn't have a healthy and nutritious diet and could lead him to bigger problems in the future. For now, he was just well over the ideal weight and with his sugar and cholesterol levels way too high for a kid his age. So both kids had to exercise to gain muscle, and in Dudley's case to help lose fat; drink a few potions till winter break, when they would have a re-evaluation; and have a healthier diet to acquire good eating habits and a regular intake of the needed nutritional elements. Severus explained one of the potions was to help regulate the current lack of them, that one they would take only until they started school.

It was really a surprise, a bad and not welcomed surprise, but they would go through this together just like the aftermath of Vernon's episode. The boys were already happy enough and had mostly forgotten all about what happened almost two months ago. Dudley didn't even fret about only having a simple cake and one candle for his birthday when they going all out with a big party for Harry. He even said he didn't mind as long as he got presents too. Petunia chuckled remembering her son's angelic face when saying so.

* * *

"Alright, I'm done." Dudley had just finished warping his present to his cousin. It wasn't much; in fact, it was his old collection of little soldiers. It was really old and he didn't play with it anymore but he remembered Harry looking at than before when they were little. It was ok to be anything as long as the birthday boy liked, right? Not that he would ever want some old toy, but Harry wasn't one who minded it.

He looked around his room. It was bigger than the one he had before. Mum didn't know but Mr Snape used some magic to make it bigger, he did that in exchange for him not throwing a tantrum about his cousin's party. Dudley knew Mr Snape did the same for Harry's room but he was still waiting to receive his cool nickname. Mr Snape promised he would even get him a magical toy that would be like an alive miniature of it. Dudley wasn't stupid, so he asked it to be a really cool and powerful beast. Dudley wouldn't be a little birdie like his cousin or something tiny and unimpressive; Dudley was great and so had to be his animal!

He was taking his things for a bath before the party started and kept thinking how magical houses were wicked. Mr Snape's house had all those secret passages to make it cool, so he thought this one wouldn't be so nice. Looking from outside it was just plain, like the one on Private Drive.

It was a two-story house with a nice front garden, which was now tended by mum and a big garage with space for two cars and all kinds of tools to use around the front of the house and to fix the cars. It was clearly bigger than Private Drive. On the ground floor, they had one study, a kitchen two times bigger than the other in the old house, the living and dining rooms were one big room with a fireplace Mr Snape said worked like his, a mini library, a social bathroom and a big back garden.

The back garden had a few vegetables and plants mum said they used when preparing food, a shed for the gardening tools and barbeque stuff, an apple tree with a swing attached, and the door to the basement on the veranda. Meensy and Harry took care of the back garden, more Meensy than Harry.

In the basement there was another study, mum said that one was hers, a potions lab with a potions ingredients storage, Mr Snape was really happy with this, and two small rooms that they weren't using yet. Mr Snape suggested they make one a smaller bedroom with a simple toilet and sink attached so anyone one the potions lab could rest or go to the bathroom without needing to go upstairs and the other they could just use to store the potions they made or bought.

The upstairs floor was bigger than the ground floor; it went into the back garden making a sort of veranda under it between the back garden and the living room. The master bedroom and the guest room had their own bathroom, Dudley and Harry each had a big room for themselves and shared the bathroom at the end of the corridor. Their rooms and bathroom were on the backside of the house while the master bedroom, which was mum's, the guest room and their playroom were more to the front. The playroom was filled with a combination of magical toys and some of Dudley's toys, his video games and telly were also there. They didn't work well with the magic so Mr Snape was looking for someone to fix them to work on magic. The telly in the living room had the same problem, only the kitchen stuff was already fixed. Something about games and the telly being more difficult to handle.

Dudley was dressing up when he heard his mum call saying Mr Snape arrived. He hurried up taking Harry's present with him downstairs. _Can't wait for my presents and my cool nickname._

* * *

Harry was so anxious about today he barely slept last night. Sure, he doubted anyone would remember or commemorate his birthday but Mr Snape said he would visit today. He wanted to talk about Hogwarts and more things magical. Even though Harry knew it was just a visit to teach them something, and that the visit wasn't just for him, Harry was more than happy to be able to spend his birthday with his Mr Snape.

He was still confused about the godson thing. The day after they went to Diagon Alley Mr Snape let Dudley and Harry into his study to teach them about the wizarding world. Harry was really paying attention to it because it was about how his parents died and all, but them he noticed a photo on the desk. It was a photo of a _really_ pretty boy with pale blond hair, so pale it was almost white. Mr Snape continued talking but Harry had tuned him out and was just paying attention to the prince-like boy that was moving in the picture, sometimes smirking and sometimes sneering. In the end, Harry hadn't paid any attention to his Mr Snape.

Mr Snape directed them to a few books in his shelves so we could read about what he was saying with as much detail as the public got. He said the books also talked about Harry. Then finally, Dudley noticed the same picture Harry couldn't get his eyes off. After being asked, Mr Snape said the boy was his godson. Harry noticed Mr Snape smiling fondly at the picture. Harry even said he looked a little like a prince in a fairy-tale; to that comment, Mr Snape actually laughed and said that indeed his godson behaved and was treated like a prince.

Now, what was Harry supposed to do? Mr Snape was his godson's. It should be enough he cared about and liked Harry a bit; he should be grateful. He could not be _his_ Mr Snape but Harry would take what he was offered. He even felt a bit daring today. He would definitely go for a hug from Mr Snape, maybe he could get away with some cuddling.

"Dudley! Harry! Severus is here! Come down already! We're having lunch in the veranda!"

Harry was really excited! Today he had breakfast in his room. Meensy said Dudley and he had to have breakfast in the bedroom and finish their English exercises. Meensy and Twinky were really fun, they were learning proper English together, his Aunt Petunia said they had horrible English and that it would confuse Harry and Dudley to what was right and what wasn't. They were both excited to learn how to talk properly, even more so when Aunt Petunia said they need to know how to read and right.

When Harry got to the bottom of the stairs, he saw his cousin jump up and down with presents.

"They're so cool! Look Harry!" He ran to Harry showing a bird on a cage and a miniature tiger that moved. "I'm a Tiger. Because they're cool and strong."

"Yes, they are. The owl is a present for getting into Hogwarts. Hello, Raven."

Harry didn't waste time and gave Mr Snape a hug. The impact of running into him unbalanced the man and both crashed to the ground. Harry went on snuggling before he was told to stop. _Well, I want at least this for my birthday. Even if I'm punished later._

"Did you miss me that much, my Raven?"

Harry stiffened a bit. _What did he call him?_ He looked up into Mr Snape's eyes. "What did you call me?" He asked tentatively.

"Raven? Do you not like it when I call you that?" Mr Snape looked confused and something else Harry didn't know nor care.

"No, before that. You said I was your Raven." The last bit was only a whisper. Still, Mr Snape seemed to hear it just fine. He smiled and brought Harry closer to him in a crush, kissed the top of his head and spoke loud enough that only Harry would hear.

"Obviously, you are _my_ Raven. Who else's would you be if not mine?"

Harry only nodded and stayed there cuddling that little bit more until he felt himself being lifted by _his_ Mr Snape. Well, if he was Mr Snape's Raven then Mr Snape could be _his_ Mr Snape. This was the best birthday Harry had ever had in all his life; he couldn't be happier. Just as he was about to tell his Mr Snape how much Harry liked him, someone came through the floo. Harry still wondered how that worked and still thought it strange to see a person come out of the fireplace.

"Hello, little Harry. Happy Birthday!" Healer Hart handed him a present. "Lord Prince, Ms Evans, Dudley, it is nice seeing you again on a merrier occasion."

Harry kind of didn't know what to do. He was just handed a package from the Healer. Did he want to give Harry more medicine? But he said 'Happy Birthday'; and the package had a really colourful warping, even a shiny big bow.

"You can open it later with the other presents, dear?" His Aunt Petunia took the package away and led them to the veranda where a big table with various foods was set. He sat and started eating while everyone else chatted.

 _Wait, present? And she said presents, plural, meaning more than one? And did she say 'others'? Really meaning more than one? I just received a birthday present! And there are other birthday presents! I got to cuddle with my Mr Snape_ and _received presents!_

"All right. Now that we ate, it's time for the birthday boy to blow the candles!" Aunt Petunia looked more excited than Harry did.

He was about to ask what she meant when everyone started singing a birthday song for him and Meensy came from the kitchen carrying a two story cake with rainbow icing and eleven candles along with Twinky. Harry's only reaction was to gape at the scene, so much Healer Hart teased him about looking like a fish.

"Don't forget to make your wish, Raven."

Harry stared at his Mr Snape in disbelief. "It already came true."

His Mr Snape kneeled near him brushed Harry's hair back. "Now you get to have a new wish. In addition, for your next birthday, you get another. That is how birthdays are supposed to be."

Harry tackled his Mr Snape with a hug again, this time they didn't fall. After a good minute thinking about his new wish, he blew the candles repeating it like a mantra in his head: 'I wish Mr Snape loves me'. With the candles blown, the cake was served, to Dudley's delight it was chocolate, and soon enough Harry was rushed to open the presents.

He started by the one he knew was from Healer Hart. It was an almost black dark green velvet box, inside there were five different coloured ribbons; one green, one yellow, one blue, one red and one that seemed to change colours. He went to Healer Hart and thanked him for the beautiful presents.

"I've noticed your hair is not easily tamed. My daughter says with hair like that, it's easier if it's longer. It is also common between adult purebloods to use long hair. The colours are the colours of the houses at Hogwarts. The fifth one, the one that changes colours, is to be used together with one of the others. When you pair them, it will change to silver with the green one, black with the yellow one, bronze with the blue one, and gold with the red one. If you use it alone, it will become white."

Harry nodded in understanding and thanked the man again. The next present was a box with green warping and silver bow. A miniature Raven flew out of it. He hugged his Mr Snape again and went to one with plain beige warping and no bow. It was a metal box with Dudley's old toy soldiers. Harry tackled his cousin to the ground with a hug and many 'thank you's. Harry knew he shouldn't hug people like that, but he would do it while he could get away with it.

From his Aunt Petunia, he received a board game. And Mr Snape gave him yet two other presents: a journal, so he could write down everything he found interesting and a new version of the dictionary Mr Snape lent him before. They all played two rounds of the game his Aunt Petunia gave him and Healer Hart went back home. Aunt Petunia left to tidy up the kitchen and Dudley and Harry stayed in the living room with Mr Snape.

"Harry, there is just one more gift you seem to have missed. I believe it is in your room already. Why don't you go up and see what it is?"

* * *

It seemed the boy did not need to be told twice. He ran upstairs and his squealing could be heard from Severus cosy spot on the sofa. Severus expected to be out of breath from his Raven's thank you hug as soon as he came down again. It was something he could get used to. The pure delight his Raven showed when Severus had called him his melted the last barriers he had put up for his emotional protection. Now he would have to care for his Raven just the way he cared for his Dragon. _I hope they can become friends._

The sound of a child running alerted him to his Raven coming back and, as predicted, he received a breathtaking hug. Of course, his Raven used the opportunity to cuddle _again_. Really, Severus needed to cut it a bit; it would not do for his Raven to indulge in such comportment at Hogwarts. Severus had an image to maintain and an old codger to fool. For now, it _was_ his Raven's birthday, so Severus might as well spoil him some.

A whispered 'I love you, Mr Snape' pulled Severus from his musings to answer the boy properly. "I love you too, my Raven." And with that, his Raven hugged him even more tightly than before seeming to be filled with sheer gleefulness. _If only he could stay this way forever..._

* * *

"Ready to sleep, dear?"

Harry jumped on his bed and pulled his covers. He was really tired from the day's excitement and he was ready to be tucked in by his Aunt Petunia.

"Good. Want me to read you a story, dear? Oh, sorry. You're already too big for this..."

"I do. But don't tell Dudley, he would call me a baby."

"Of course, dear. It will be our little secret."

Aunt Petunia started reading some fairytale story. Not long later Harry was asleep and dreaming about castles and white blond princes.


	9. 9 - Draco Malfoy

A/N: Merry Christmas! This chapter focuses solely on Draco. As you may have noticed from the tags, he is a big part of the story. After this, we will have one more short chapter and it's off to Hogwarts. (Finally *shoots fireworks*)

* * *

9 - Draco Malfoy

It had just turned August and Draco's parents brought him to Diagon Alley so they could shop for his school supplies. Only the utterly stupid left their shopping to be done at the last possible minute. It was unbecoming of a pureblood, of a Malfoy, to act in such a manner as the common wizard. And a Malfoy was anything but common. The advantages of shopping in advance included being able to study in advance. Draco was their better and nothing like showing he knew better, and he did. He was, after all, a Malfoy.

Now he was at Madam Malkin's being fitted for new robes to use during the school year. As a Malfoy it was natural for him to need this many new robes, one was hardly expected to wear rags used repeatedly. Furthermore, he needed to have a wide assortment of options to choose from, every occasion needed a carefully chosen garment.

Madam Makin was about to finish with him when his mother came with his father. They really seemed like a perfectly fit for each other couple. For most, they looked cold; for their circle of carefully selected friends, they were a model to be followed, the epitome of perfection. Draco, well, Draco knew better. They were perfect, yes, but a couple? Hardly. Nevertheless, Draco loved his parents and they loved him back.

As his parents accompanied him through Diagon Alley, Draco could only pity all the other kids. Poor creatures that would never be as lucky as Draco was. Draco couldn't imagine how anyone could bear to live life without his parents or being a Malfoy. His only guess was they couldn't miss what they didn't know they were missing. Poor souls indeed.

* * *

The following day had Draco preparing to spend the week at Spinner's End. It was a wonder why a human being, a powerful wizard no less, would want to live in such a place. At least to balance out all the bad things that came with the place, he would be able to spend the whole week with his absolute favourite person in the whole world; a person he loved even more than he did his parents. And this time he didn't have to share his time with his father!

It was a bit of a sudden decision, really. His father had tried to use Draco to ingratiate himself with the man, only he didn't expect him to be so angry with him still. Draco would admit that when it came to the love of his life his father had a tendency to make the wrong choice of words, and sometimes actions. Anyway, Draco lucked out and won an entire wonderful week to flaunt in his father's face. It was rather unbecoming to flaunt his betterness all the time, it was not wrong to teach them he was indeed better, however, Draco wasn't above teasing his father. The best part was his father could do nothing against him, lest he infuriated his love even more.

It was a triumphantly smirking Draco and a snickering Narcissa Black, commonly known as Malfoy, who flooed to Spinner's End leaving a scowling Lucius Malfoy behind.

* * *

Aside from a slight stumble, Draco's landing was perfect, worthy of a pureblood; it would only be worthy of a Malfoy when he was perfect complete with a cleaning charm for the soot. Speaking of, Draco noticed he was cleaned by one.

"Welcome, my Dragon." Draco looked right into his favourite pair of onyx eyes and let go of his breeding in favour of a truly missed hug.

"I missed you, Papa."

"I missed you too, my Dragon. Thank you for bringing him, Narcissa." He said as he returned Draco's hug tenfold. He was let go with a last squeeze. "Take your things upstairs, Dragon. I will be there soon with you."

Draco nodded and went up calmly. He was able to hear some creative remarks his Papa made about his father and his mother bidding him goodbye and leaving through the floo. _Mother is sure to relay those if only for the amusement she gets from father's reactions._ Not long after his Papa came to help him unpack.

"Can't we just ask the elf to do it?" Draco knew the answer to be a negative but his Papa always gave him something to make up for the trouble when he asked so. Draco couldn't, in good conscience, let such an opportunity pass without using it.

"No, Dragon. You shouldn't be so dependent on the services of a house elf. Maybe next year I'll teach to do the laundry." He chuckled while messing Draco's perfectly groomed hair.

If this was anyone else he would be pissed, but his Papa had said he liked Draco feel at ease with him. He never pressured Draco to be or do anything when they were alone. Draco knew he would be expected to behave like a Malfoy when in Hogwarts, though. He sighed just from imagining all the expectations hanging over his head. His Papa seated himself on Draco's bed he just had transfigured to a better one and motioned for him to go sit with him. As Draco did so, his Papa pulled him closer to allow Draco to cuddle with him.

"Don't worry yourself about Hogwarts, my Dragon. We can schedule one or two meetings so we can be alone. I will always be there to protect you. I love you as if you were my own flesh and blood. You are my son, my Dragon. Do not forget that. Even if people don't know, we know. And that is what matters most: us."

Draco wasn't really tired; he was, however, a child. And being cuddled, petted and reassured by his Papa made him relax enough to fall asleep. He dreamed of a day when everyone would know that not only he was lucky to be born a Malfoy, he was also lucky to have Severus Snape as his Papa.

* * *

Draco was at Spinner's End for three days now and not once had he seen his Papa's elf Twinky. When asked, his Papa had said she was running errands for him and preparing for the coming school year. Since she was only coming over to wash the clothes and clean what his Papa didn't when Draco was busy, all the rest was being done by his Papa _and_ Draco himself.

His Papa had even allowed him into his study to dust off the books; it had actually been fun to do it together with him. They had ended up playing with the feathered duster. Yesterday he helped a little with the garden; it was more like an open greenhouse with lots of herbs meant to become potions' ingredients than the gardens back at Malfoy Manor. Nevertheless, it was fun to get all muddy playing with the dirty, it seemed a bit childish but his Papa was all grown up and was still doing it. Besides, it wasn't like anyone was watching or knew it was happening.

Now his Papa had him in the kitchen and they were trying to make chocolate chip cookies. It was really fun to mix everything by hand and play with the dough. Draco couldn't wait to taste his first batch of cookies! He had just finished washing his hands in the kitchen sink when his Papa called him to drink tea while waiting for the cookies.

"Dragon, an old... acquaintance from my childhood moved back to the neighbourhood. She lives only a few streets away and has children your age." His Papa took another sip from his tea probably to let Draco think of the implications of what he said. Draco knew what 'acquaintance from childhood' and 'live nearby' meant. His Papa was a halfblood, his father had been a muggle of the worst kind, and had grown up in this _muggle_ neighbourhood. Meaning, this acquaintance was most likely a muggle. "Maybe you would like-"

"No." His Papa gave him _the look_ for cutting him mid-sentence but Draco would have none of it. "I don't want to meet anyone. I came here to spend the week with you, Papa."

"Don't you think it boring here? Playing with someone your age would be nicer, wouldn't it?"

"No. There is no one _nicer_ than you in the whole world. Malfoys only have the best, and you are the very best, Papa. I don't need some _kid_ to play. I have quite enough fun just being in the same room with you." Draco was very pleased with himself, he managed to reject being introduced to the muggle kids _and_ he indulged his Papa with a compliment. Certainly, he had mentioned that only to fish for compliments. He didn't do that with other people mind you, his Papa let only his Dragon know he liked being complimented and loved.

"I see." His Papa took another sip from his cup to hide a smile Draco could clearly see was one of amusement. _What was amusing him so much?_ Draco knew from an early age that his Papa's amusement meant others misery. Surely, he wouldn't bring misery to his Dragon, right?

* * *

Draco could admit to himself he was mopping. The next day he had to go back home, so he wanted to spend the whole of today attached to his Papa. The fates had decided to not follow Draco's plans, though. Draco was ensconced in his room watching the muggle street because he had nothing better to do and his Papa was busy with a sudden request from the barmy old codger.

Draco was ready to go on ranting mode again when he saw just the cutest thing outside running with other kids on the street. Draco couldn't care less what they were doing; he just sat there staring at the cutest boy he had ever seen. For a moment, he thought he had seen a glimpse of the boy's eyes: the greenest green he had ever seen. He was startled out of his mooning over the boy by his Papa knocking on his door.

"Coming!"

* * *

"Do I really have to go?"

"Yes, Dragon. I will be at Hogwarts for at least the next week. There is quite a lot to be done before students arrive and as a Head of House I have more to prepare than a regular teacher."

"I'll miss you, Papa."

"I'll miss you too, my Dragon."

Draco flooed home and to his surprise, his father was there to greet him. He was ushered to a sitting room and asked about all the things he did. Draco, of course, didn't tell him a single wonderful experience he had with his Papa. It served his father right for angering him! And as a final touch, he opened the present he received and showed it off to his father. It was a truly beautiful robe, Draco really liked that silk and the colour was just right for him. It even made Draco remember that beautiful thing he saw from his room at his Papa's house.


	10. 10 - Final Touches

A/N: Thank you for the favs, follows and reviews. As it was asked, I'll clarify. Draco is the blood son of Narcissa and Lucius. He calls Severus his Papa because the man has a relationship with his father and treats Draco as a son.

If I finish writing next chapter soon, I'll post it on the 30th. If not, well, we'll see each other on the 4th and a Very Happy New Year!

Edit: Corrected Albus name. Thank you LexisRee and damn you stupid corrector.

* * *

10 - Final touches

"What did you say?"

"The key you presented is longer usable; therefore we'll take care of its disposal."

That goblin must be daft; that's the only explanation. "What about the new one then?"

"You would need to request one from the account's manager."

"Then take me to him already."

 _Thank Merlin, there weren't that many people around. It could have turned into a scandal. But, really, they should have notified me about such a thing. It is a big deal to be without one's vault key._

They came to a halt in front of a door, which had 'Ragnok' written on a nameplate. Albus didn't even care to knock or wait and entered the _office_. He was Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore after all. He was more than entitled to bypass such frivolities.

"Mr Dumbledore. What a surprise to see you. What good winds brought you to my humble office on this most beautiful day." The goblin was showing him the goblin equivalent of a smile, which involved lots of teeth showing.

"Yes. I believe I was not informed of the change of my vault key."

"That is most strange indeed. We always notify our clients about any and every change concerning their vaults _and_ accounts."

"Well, I wasn't. Maybe we could replace it now."

"Of course. Just wait a moment."

Albus sat there waiting for a good half hour. How there they make _me_ wait for them to make amends for _their_ mistakes. Merlin knew how much Albus had to reign in his temper before incompetent people. And he was having such a good day...

"Mr Dumbledore, your account's manager informed me no changes were done to either your vault or account. That is except your regular income being deposited. You may go to him with your further inquiries. Truth to be told, I can't fathom why you were brought to me in the first place."

Albus gave a slight nod of acquiescence and followed the directions he was given to his manager's office. There, he got to know that indeed nothing was changed, even if a few investments of his appeared to have ceased making profits. About the key change, he was told that specific key should have been handled by Ragnok, as _he_ was the manager of the Potters. Albus backtracked to the other office and again entered without knocking.

"Ah, Mr Dumbledore. I hope your questions were answered."

"Yes, most of them." Albus was already letting his impatience and disappointment be known by the tone of his voice. "Except for the one I asked first."

"Strange. I do remember telling you your vault key didn't undergo any changes and further inquiries should be taken to _your_ account's manager."

"That you did."

"Then I see no reason for your question to not have been answered."

"Yes. It was some minor misunderstanding. The vault key which I was told had been changed is the one to Vault 687."

"Oh! That one falls under my jurisdiction."

Finally, Albus was getting somewhere. "So, where is the replacement key?"

"It is with the vault's owner of course. He requested a new one so he could take some gold to buy his school supplies, I believe. A most fine young man. You should be aware that when a key is changed, we invalidate all other keys pertaining the vault."

 _So the boy came, after all. Better start planning the next steps. School will start in a little less than a month; that gives me time for the last preparations. I wasn't expecting the Dursleys to let him come with such ease._

"Will that be all, Mr Dumbledore?" The goblins question startled him off his thoughts.

"Yes. No. Well, I still need a copy of the new key."

"You can't expect Gringotts to give away keys that don't belong to the clients requesting them."

It was such a sharp statement that it almost threw Albus off balance, almost. "That would hardly be a problem when the client requesting it is a guardian for the owner." Albus knew he had to be diplomatic here; it wouldn't do to start a war with goblins when they were still warring against Voldemort.

The goblin pulled a few sheets of paper out of the middle of a pile to his left and read it over. "I have to inform you that while your statement is true, I still can't provide you with a key to any vaults belonging to the Potters. That would be outright theft, and insisting on that request will aggravate us dearly."

The situation was really getting out of hand. Albus knew that was a subtle way of telling him to back off. He knew, though, that he could make the request through the Ministry of Magic and that was where he was headed next. "I see. I will try the Ministry then."

* * *

After he served himself some warm and delicious tea, Albus reclined in his chair contemplating the meaning of everything he learned that day. Harry Potter had requested not only a copy of his key; he requested it to be changed. For either request, he would need to know the procedure for identifying himself to the goblins. In all truth, one just had to ask, and this fact ruled out someone else's intervention.

At the Ministry, he was informed that he was no longer guardian to The-Boy-Who-Lived and that the files concerning the boy were not available to the public for protection reasons. As such, Albus couldn't access them. Once the boy started his schooling, Albus would only have access to the file that stated who the boy's new guardian was.

He requested a report from a squib who lived not too far from the boy. He never had any use for the woman before, he maintained her just as a precaution. And what good thinking that was! Now, he just needed to wait a few more minutes to know of the Dursleys. As if on cue, Mrs Figg face flashed on his fireplace inviting him to come over.

Stepping on the other side, he was welcomed to a house decorated by someone with awful taste. He couldn't blame anyone for not knowing what was best. He sat down on a patch of sofa less buried in cat fur and waited for the woman to start. At least, the sweets she offered to go with his tea were to his taste.

"Headmaster, I'm afraid I don't have much to report." He just made a gesture encouraging her to keep do it anyway. Better little than nothing. "I heard that a couple months ago there was an incident involving even the police. I didn't know about it because I had to travel to see to a friend. I'm sure it was nothing at all since last month I saw Mrs Dursley throwing the trash out like nothing happened. And I heard someone say she took the boys out on a trip. That would explain why no one answered the door."

Alarm bells went off in Albus' head at the last sentence. He quickly said his goodbyes giving some silly excuse of wanting to go for a night walk and left to the Dursleys. It couldn't be right. No one answering the door wasn't strange per see, but it just didn't feel right to Albus. Something was off and he would learn what was.

As the Squib said, the house seemed empty. The protection ward he placed all those years ago was still there. Maybe, just maybe, the woman was right and they just went on a trip before the school year started. Albus still went inside and, to his surprise, the only thing strange was maybe some lack of muggle trinkets. He didn't know what one was expected to have in a muggle house but seeing it not empty and the ward in place reassured him.

* * *

Albus apparated back to his office, the perks of being Headmaster included that. Even if everything seemed well, Albus had to make sure the boy was still in Britain and coming to Hogwarts. He used all the tracking spells he knew of and then some and none returned the boy's location to him. Most peculiar. It was true you should have something with the magical signature of the person one was trying to locate, though some of the spells he used should give him a search area at the very least. He did one of those again and it only came out that the boy was somewhere on the British island.

Thinking a potion could be a solution, Albus floo called his potions' master. It was late at night but that was of no matter. Severus was his spy; he should be ready whenever he was needed. At last, said man appeared in front of him.

"Severus, my boy. How has your vacation been? Enjoying life I hope." One should always make use of niceties, they are a sure way to make one less inclined to resist.

"Yes, Headmaster. I was enjoying myself. I even got to sleep full nights. But by all means, do spare me the horrors of a well-rested body."

"Yes, yes. Good to hear that, my boy, good to hear that. Perhaps you could indulge an old man with some of your potions knowledge." _Appear weak and you shall receive help. Stroke their ego and they shall indulge you._

"Perhaps."

"Would you know of a potion which could serve as a tracker of sorts?"

"I am able to think a few. Is it for a person, animal or object?"

"Oh. How are they different? Aren't both people and animals alive?"

"They are, yet their magic, or lack of, functions in different ways. There are some that could be used on both as well."

"I see. What would be the difference in one tailored specifically for animals and one for anything alive?"

"The one _brewed_ for a specific tracking would need some sort of piece of the _animal_ one wants to track. They also have a higher cost and brewing time. The more general ones should cost less and take less time to brew, as well as not being as powerful as the others."

"And how powerful would the general one be in contrast to the specific one?" Perhaps now that Albus didn't have access to the Potters' wealth, it would be wiser to not spend so much.

"The range of the area located would be wider."

"Is it possible for you to make one of those more general ones? I see myself in dire need to know where Fawkes goes every night; he always comes back so smug that I'm afraid he's up to something." Some twinkle should do the trick now.

"I see. I'll have it ready by the last meeting before the school year starts."

"Good. I'll see you then, my boy." And with that, Albus started planning how to feed the potion to the boy.

* * *

In a few days, students were to go to Hogwarts for the new school year. Unfortunately, Severus had to go a few days prior to organising the new supply of potions ingredients he asked of the old coot. He would do anything for that tracking potion I am sure. Severus was aware the potion would be used to track his Raven and made an extra effort in making it specifically not work well for his Raven. It would show a normal range for anything, but his Raven it would only show the country. The beauty of the situation was perhaps the inability of the Headmaster to ask for a more refined potion, lest he raises suspicions upon his person.

Severus knew sooner or later the man would find out about not being the guardian of The-Boy-Who-Lived. If the transactions going in his Raven's account was anything to go by, the old man liked to splurge other people's monies. Sadly, that was something for Petunia to solve; Severus was knowledgeable about banking and investments but the one who would do her any good was Lucius.

They could go without the man's help for a longer while still. Petunia gave priority to solve the problems within her muggle account first; Vernon had done quite the number on her. Petunia didn't tell him what exactly were these problems, not that wanted to know, but he was relieved to know she still intended to repay his Raven every cent they used. The mistreatment was simply left alone in the past; she was to repay that by treating him well from now on.

The Tiger and his Raven were doing rather well in their studies. Petunia had helped very much by buying the boys calligraphy books. One to teach them the letters and their variants, and a few notebooks for practising. They started out with fountain pens and now they could use a quill well, though both still preferred the pens.

Severus arrived at the boys' house. Today would be the last day to see them before they arrived at Hogwarts. The perfect time to explain the houses and how people and prejudice worked. He hoped Dudley had stopped annoying his Raven; the boy seemed to think it was fun to do so. At least, he was still protective of his cousin after some kid tried to hurt him to play with his kite. It was really something when one got an active bully on his side; it was always better to not be on the receiving end but being protected by it made one rethink things.

* * *

"Welcome, Mr Snape."

"Hello, Tiger. Would you call your cousin? I'll be at the living with your mother."

Dudley nodded and ran off upstairs. Harry was studying _again_ to try and impress Mr Snape. Harry always acted like a baby near him and the man liked to indulge him. "Harry, Mr Snape arrived. Come on!" He saw his cousin perk up at the mention of _his dear Mr Snape_ and they both ran back downstairs. Harry gave the man another one of his powerful hugs that knocked all your air out you and sat down on the rug in front of Mr Snape and mum. Dudley couldn't understand how someone so little and skinny could have so much strength in a hug.

"I hope you did all the studying we requested." Mr Snape said as Dudley sat down beside his cousin.

"We did!" Dudley only nodded after his cousin's excited answer.

"Good. I won't verify what you did or didn't study, however, I'll be able to know from your grades since I'll be at Hogwarts with you." Harry gasped and Dudley groaned. He wouldn't be able to have fun if the man was there.

"Today is the last we will see each other before your arrival at school. I had decided before to use this last day to talk about school. First of all, I expect you both to do well in your studies and receive only 'Exceeds Expectations' and 'Outstanding' for grades. If you have difficulties with a subject, look for an older student or your teacher for help.

"All first and second years take only the core subjects; you are allowed to choose electives from the third year. One of those core subjects is Potions, I teach that one and as such, I expect to be called Professor Snape. You will see that I am not an _easy_ teacher; you will also see me act a bit differently towards you as that is what is expected of me."

"Different how?" Dudley asked.

"Harsher."

His cousin had another question, though. "Why do you have to do that?"

"An interesting question, Raven. I do have a reputation to preserve; you will be privy to that once at school or maybe the train. Also, I hope you remember I told you about the war and that I was a Death Eater."

Dudley and Harry both made an 'oh' with their mouths in understanding. Harry was supposed to have defeated the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters were supposed to hate him.

"Another piece of knowledge I want to impart on you is the House system. There are for houses at Hogwarts."

"Red and gold for Gryffindor. Green and silver for Slytherin. Blue and bronze for Ravenclaw. Yellow and black for Hufflepuff. Like my ribbons."

"Yes, Raven, like your ribbons. Each house has a trait said to be stronger. People say it is bravery for Griffindor, intelligence for Ravenclaw, loyalty for Hufflepuff and cunning for Slytherin. People also seem to have certain prejudices against each house; those would be respectively the houses of the good, the bookworms, the stupid and the bad. I strongly suggest you don't abide by such prejudices as traits are not exclusive of one house."

Mr Snape waited a little for the message to sink in. Dudley only understood he wanted them to have friends outside their own houses.

"Well, I would tell you how you get chosen for your house but I will leave that as a surprise. Each house has a teacher to... care for its students; that is the Head of House. Currently, I am Head of the Slytherin House.

"Now, as I treat you as part of my family, I will let you call me uncle when we are alone. At school that means inside my office without any other staff."

Harry advanced on him again. They chatted a bit more about what they learned about the wizarding world and Uncle Sev, so named by Harry, left to his house. It was actually pretty nice to have him as an uncle, better than Auntie Marge; he had magic, after all.


	11. 11 - Going to a new House

A/N: Happy New Year! This was supposed to be posted yesterday but I slept. Thank you for the favs, reviews and follows! Finally, we start Hogwarts! Petunia won't be appearing much until break as the story focuses on Harry and Dudley. This chapter may be a bit longer than usual because I didn't want to break sorting. Hold your bets on which house they're getting into! The answer to the will question at the end. And thanks again LexisRee :)

* * *

11 - Going to a new House

"This is it. Now, we just have to go through the wall."

Aunt Petunia was eyeing the wall like it would eat her alive. Harry didn't want to try it first; what if he broke his things? Even if the money used to buy them was his, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Sev would definitely get mad at him. Dudley seemed to not mind trying it first, he just got his trolley, rushed to the wall and disappeared. Aunt Petunia was so freaked out that she just went running after him. That left only Harry behind. _They both went and nothing happened. I suppose it's safe then._

As Harry was preparing to rush in, his Aunt Petunia came out to _help_ him in. Harry loved when she fussed over him. Going through the wall was like going through a dark tunnel, the sensation ended fast, though. His Aunt Petunia led him to where she left Dudley, who was making his best impersonation of a fish. Harry did the same after he turned to see what he was looking at. The Hogwarts Express was a... magnificent sight. Harry even petted himself mentally for remembering the difficult word, Uncle Sev would be proud.

"Now, you two get on the train and find yourselves a nice and good seat. I'll stay here until it leaves just to make sure you left me to my normal and peaceful life."

Harry and Dudley laughed at that and hugged her goodbye. "It's still an hour before it leaves. Don't you want to come in a bit?"

"Yeah, mum. Uncle said it was okay as long as you didn't go to school with us." Dudley made an ugly face probably thinking how bad it would be to have your mum go to school with you.

"No, dear, I'm quite fine. I brought some reading material. Also, your uncle said many witches came together with their kids and I could observe a bit to get used to how they dress."

"Okay. Can you please help me with my ribbons? They're coming loose, Aunt Petunia." He whined. He actually whined and nothing bad happened!

"That's because you had the stupid idea of trying to use all of them at the same time. You could always go with pigtails, you know."

Aunt Petunia chuckled but helped a scowling Harry to tie his low ponytail with the five ribbons and fixed his fringe to cover all his forehead properly. "What about when you're at school, dear? How will you use them?"

Harry stopped scowling to answer his aunt. "I can manage to tie two and make the bow beautiful but all five..." Harry didn't know which house he would end up in, so he didn't know which combination to choose and just decided to go with them all.

They had another round of goodbyes and boarded the train. It looked even bigger on the inside; magic really was used for everything. Uncle Sev had told them the compartments could fit many people inside because they magically enlarged to fit those who entered. Harry was secretly hoping to make so many friends that they would have space problems in theirs. Dudley entered one about the middle of the train, or what Harry thought was the middle, and Harry noticed they could see his Aunt Petunia sat on a bench reading her book and looking at whatever witch passed by.

Instead of putting their trunks up, they left them under the table near the window. The owls were left in the space over the window meant for luggage. If someone needed space, they could always shrink their trunks. Uncle Sev insisted they bought one with a permanent Featherlight Charm and self-shrinking function, totally worth it in their opinion. Dudley took out a book on Quidditch, he was anxious to learn to fly, and Harry took out a notebook and some coloured pencils to make good use of the table and to attempt to draw what he saw until now.

They were so distracted that they both jumped high with train's whistle. They looked out in time to see Aunt Petunia preparing to leave and lots of people, likely parents, waving at the train. It was a quiet beginning of a ride for other moments still. The door opened the first time to reveal a red-headed boy with a dirty patch on the nose.

"Uhn, the other compartments are full... Can I sit here with you guys?"

"Sure." Dudley answered and Harry only nodded. He wanted the make friends but he was still afraid of people's reaction to him. Judging from the books he read, and what his Uncle Sev told them, Harry was treated like a hero or something. He didn't believe the bit about the fan mail so he wrote Mr Ragnok to ask about it. Unfortunately, he was informed that not only was it true, there was a whole vault for them! He was even set to receive inheritances from people he never met just because they didn't have any family to leave it to!

"Thanks. Kinda nervous here. It's my first year."

"Ours too! Do you know anyone at school?" Dudley seemed to have found his first friend; maybe Harry was overthinking the reaction thing.

"Yeah, I have three brothers still there. Two others already graduated and my little sister's coming next year. I'm Ron, by the way, Ron Weasley."

"I'm Dudley, Dudley Evans. We've got nicknames too! Mine is Tiger and his is Raven. We're cousins." Dudley shook the boy's hand. Really, what was Harry scared of? He was just a kid like him.

"Harry Potter." He said as he quickly shook the boy's hand. Harry had a bad feeling with Ron's stunned face and grimaced a little.

"Blimey." He was out of his stupor seeming overly excited. "Harry Potter! You're The-Boy-Who-Lived! You defeated You-Know-Who! Blimey!" If that were all the reaction, Harry would be just fine. Thankfully, the trolley lady stopped any more gawking from the boy; one can always count on food to distract people.

Dudley was so excited with the different sweets that he bought them all; two of each mind you. Harry bought a few different ones and one cauldron cake he wanted to give to his Uncle Sev. Dudley was starting to feast on the sweets with Ron without taking his potions. "Dudley, don't forget the potions and the lunch Aunt Petunia packed for us." He reminded his cousin taking out his own potions and lunch.

"Right. Don't tell mum about the sweets, though. I'll save some for later." He drank his potions and started on his veggies.

"Why do you need potions?" Ron asked while eating his own packed lunch. He seemed more at ease now that he knew he wasn't the only kid with one. He had gone all red before saying he didn't want anything from the trolley because his mum had packed some lunch for him. Harry couldn't understand why he was ashamed; Harry himself was over the moon with happiness when his Aunt Petunia handed him his packed lunch.

"Mum always let me eat anything I wanted and too much of it. Our healer said that wasn't health and we needed nutrition potions and another one to get to the right weight."

That seemed to be enough for him. They went on chatting, mostly about Ron's brothers and Quidditch. Ron was about to show them a spell his brothers taught him when the door opened again. This time, a bush-haired girl and a slightly plump boy were looking for a toad.

"Oh, you're doing magic! Let's see it!" The girl sat down on the sweets wrapping paper like they weren't even there and waited for Ron to do his magic. He said some strange rhyme but nothing happened; no one was impressed.

"Maybe your brothers were just having some fun. Don't worry we'll learn things at school." Harry tried to comfort Ron. Being on the receiving end of the pitying look of that girl wasn't good; at least Harry hated to receive those.

"Yeah. Thanks, mate." Harry smiled. He really liked to be useful.

"Well, I read all our books for this year and already know all the spells. For example-"

"How do you know all the spells?" Dudley was spot on with his comment but the girl seemed to be angry at being cut off. Uncle Sev hated that too.

"I trained the movements and incantations at home. I tried some after boarding and they all went well."

Harry was really confused about another thing, though. "But... If you already know everything, what are you going to school for?"

You could almost see steam leaving the girl's red face. Harry didn't know if it was embarrassment, anger or both. He just cocked his head to the side waiting for the answer, he... genuinely wanted to know. He gave himself another mental petting for a difficult word.

"Maybe some teacher can teach you something new or more difficult than the ones we are going to learn. By the way, what are your names? I'm Dudley."

"Hermione Granger. That is Neville." She was beaming at Dudley. His cousin was really nice.

"Ron Weasley." He grumbled.

"I'm Harry. Nice to meet you Neville, Hermione."

"Harry? As in Harry Potter?" Ron and Dudley both confirmed that. Harry's bad feeling had just come back full force. "I know all about you! You were in many books I read about the Wizarding World! You defeated You-Know-Who and saved the world! What house do you think you'll go into?"

"My whole family went to Gryffindor, so I'll probably go there too." Ron seemed proud of that.

"I want to go there too! It's the best House. The Hogwarts Headmaster is also from there! He defeated a Dark Lord just like you Harry!" Hermione was too excited for Harry's taste.

"I don't know. I think I will just wait and see. The adults should know better which House would be better for us." He just didn't want to be alone in his House and have only strangers to talk to. He wanted new friends but was scared no one would want to talk to him. Their possible reactions also kind of terrified him. He would be fine with them if they were all like Ron's but something told Harry Hermione's was more like the norm; that or worse.

"Yeah, mate. As long as it's not Slytherin."

"Why not?" Harry didn't understand what could possibly be wrong with Slytherin; Uncle Sev was there.

"They're evil, mate. Every wizard that went wrong came from that House. You don't want to be a Dark Wizard."

"I don't think there's anything wrong with Slytherins!" Dudley was faster than Harry was. They both loved Uncle Sev and their Uncle wasn't evil.

"Whatever, mate. You'll see at school..."

"So, why don't you two stay here for the rest of the ride?" Harry said beaming and trying to bring the shy boy still standing at the door into their conversation; if this could also help change the subject, it was only a bonus.

"Thank you, but my toad..."

"Right. We should get going. Nice meeting you all." She was already leaving and rushing Neville along with her.

"She didn't even let us say goodbye!" Dudley was... outraged. Another mental petting.

"Mental that one." Ron was right; she must have some serious problem to be like that. Poor Neville being dragged all over the train. _I hope he finds his toad._ The Neville boy did seem like a nice kid, maybe Harry could be friends with him. He didn't even react to him like Ron and Hermione did, it was nice to know someone out there would maybe treat him like a normal kid.

Not long after they left, the door opened again shocking both Harry and Dudley. The prince-like boy from Uncle Sev's photo had just entered their compartment. _Uncle Sev's godson is even prettier in person!_

* * *

Draco dressed himself up in the beautiful new robe his Papa had given him for receiving his Hogwarts Letter. He knew Harry Potter would be on the train and making a good impression would help him on the path to becoming friends with the boy. The Malfoys could benefit a lot from being acquainted with The-Boy-Who-Lived. After lunch, he started his search over the train, opening or peering into compartments. About the middle of the train, he peered into the window of a compartment and saw _him:_ The cute boy from his Papa's neighbourhood. That cute muggle boy he spent the rest of last month thinking about. He was on the Hogwarts Express! That meant he was a wizard!

Well, things were certainly looking better now. Draco was sure his father wouldn't let him near a muggle boy; however, a wizard was different. Draco just had to teach him right and he wouldn't end up like all those mudbloods. If Draco could teach him all about the Wizarding World, his father, his mother and his Papa wouldn't be against Draco being close to him. It wouldn't be an easy task by any means; Draco could already see he was acting in a friendly manner with the two other boys inside, one of them with a peculiar red hair. _A Weasley!_ Draco couldn't let his new friend be contaminated by a Weasley! He quickly opened the door and stepped inside. All eyes were on him and Draco could notice he had caused quite a good impression on his cute boy.

"Raven! He really looks like a prince!" The boy opposite his cute boy seemed to know a well-bred pureblood when he saw one. Even so, he got the families mixed up; Draco would love nothing more than to also have his Papa's blood, nevertheless he didn't. Every fibre of his being screamed Malfoy. Anyway, the boy appeared to be talking to _his_ cute boy and referred to him as Raven.

"Yeah, Tiger." _Tiger?_ So his cute little boy was already exchanging endearments with these two! _What would he call the Weasley kid them? Weasel_? Draco smirked at that thought; at least his cute boy still couldn't take his eyes off him.

"I am not a Prince. I am Draco Malfoy." Draco went straight to his cute boy and extended his hand to him. "Pleased to meet you. I hope we can be friends, I could teach you all the things you need to know about our world. Like who to get acquainted with; some people _are_ better than others."

Just as Draco was enjoying the beautiful green green eyes of his cute boy and the feel of his hands, the Weasel kid had to intrude. "Yeah, right. You would just love to _teach_ The-Boy-Who-Lived all sort of Dark stuff. Harry, you shouldn't be friends with him, his father is a Death Eater. He's going to Slytherin; I'm sure. He's evil!"

"Ron!" It was nice to see his cute boy outraged on his behalf, not that Draco would let the Weasel insult his family. Draco was about to make the comeback of his like when his brain caught up with what the Weasel had called his cute boy. _Harry? The-Boy-Who-Lived?_

"He can't be evil."

"Dudley's right. He's our Uncle's godson, so he can't be evil."

Draco was doing the most unforgivable unMalfoyish act there is: gaping. His mother would be reproaching him and be extremely disappointed but Draco couldn't do anything but gape. His cute muggleborn boy was Harry Potter! And did he call his Papa uncle?

" .evil."

"How so?"

"He's father a-"

"Oh, shut up, Weasel. Are you sure you should be here? Do your family have enough money to send yet another spawn to Hogwarts? From the looks of your clothes, it does seem they are in quite the dire situation." Draco snapped finalising it with his best smirk, still not as good as his Papa's or his father's but close. Then, suddenly, he felt the hand still locked with his slip away.

"There's nothing wrong with his clothes!" His cute boy was defending a Weasley! Draco had had enough. He sneered at the Weasel boy, told his cute boy he would see him at school and left to go back to his compartment.

Draco was almost calm when he reached his destination. The bad thing was that now he could think clearly, so all the thoughts in his head started to click together like a giant puzzle being finished. His cute boy was Harry Potter and he lived somewhere in his Papa's neighbourhood. There was just no way his Papa wouldn't know about The-Boy-Who-Lived living nearby. His next thought made Draco instantly freeze and go hot with anger, all at the same time. _Papa wanted to introduce me to Harry Potter!_

* * *

"Are you okay?" Dudley asked his cousin knowing clothes were sort of a sore spot for him. It wasn't until recently that he got clothes of his own; he always used hand-me-downs from Dudley. Not that he didn't appreciate them; Dudley knew Harry was thankful for whatever he got. He much preferred the food Dudley passed to him than be caught with one of his nicer outfits.

"Yeah. Thanks for defending me, mate. See what I told you? That Malfoy is a git."

Harry gave Dudley a knowing and thankful smile that looked more like a grimace and went on to answer Ron. "No, Ron. I don't think he's a git. You insulted his family first; he was only giving it back." Ron was about to say something but Harry just shook his head. "I don't think what he said was right. As I said, I see nothing wrong with your clothes; they do their job just like any other. But I also don't think you were right to call his family evil. You don't know them. You're just basing your thoughts on what someone told you."

"Our Uncle told us people had all kinds of prejudice against the Houses in Hogwarts. Like that girl, Hermione, she said she tried some spells from the books and they worked. She must be a genius or something and she wants to go to Gryffindor, but people say all the intelligent people go to Ravenclaw. If she doesn't go to Ravenclaw, does it mean she's not intelligent enough to make it?" Dudley was really proud of his reasoning, he didn't like to study by any means but he wasn't stupid, just a bit lazy.

"No. It would just mean that whoever chooses our House thought that she would do better in another house. Our Uncle told us that a trait was not exclusive to one House. Like Dudley said, Hermione wouldn't stop being intelligent just because she's not in Ravenclaw. A person is more than what people think of their House."

"Okay." Ron was a bit red and looking down.

"No problem, mate. How about we change to the uniforms and be free to do what we want the rest of the trip?" Dudley tried to change the subject and attempted to smile like his cousin, his smiles really changed moods at home. Ron nodded and they all began changing. About an hour after they did so, Hermione and Neville came back, they looked a bit green. Ron scooted over to Dudley's side so Neville sat beside Harry and Hermione beside Ron.

"So. What happened? Did you find your toad, Neville?" Harry's question made the mood lighten up, Dudley really needed to learn how to do that.

"We did. An older kid helped. He looked a bit like you, Ron." Hermione was the one who answered while Neville only smiled and showed his toad.

"Was he alone?"

"No, he was with some other guys in his compartment." Hermione frowned at him.

"No. I meant: there was only one of him?"

"Of course, Ron. How would there be two of him?"

"Then it was Perfect Percy that helped you. Mum was all proud 'cause he became a Prefect." Ron was nodding to himself self-satisfied but Hermione was still frowning.

"He has three brothers still in Hogwarts, Hermione. One in fifth year and the twins in third year." Dudley explained to her.

"Oh. Why didn't you say so then? How could I know you had brothers who were twins?"

Ron only shrugged. Harry tried again to change the subject and asked what classes they were most looking forward to. Dudley started off with flying and struck another conversation about Quidditch with Ron while Harry, Neville and Hermione talked about other classes. They kept on talking and chatting all through the rest of the way.

The time passed fast with such a nice time they had and soon they arrived at Hogwarts, or so Dudley thought at first. They were at a station with a few buildings in it. Most people were going towards one end but Dudley heard a booming voice calling the first years from the other. Hermione pulled them to go where the booming voice was. Turns out the booming voice came from the biggest man Dudley ever saw in his life. _Wow! What a giant!_

The big man led them to a lake and told them to enter the boats four at a time. Hermione was so excited she was already in one waiting for them, not really intelligent of her since some other girls entered the boat before them. In the end, they had to split up. Ron went to a boat with only one spot left, but Dudley, Harry and Neville still found one with only one girl inside. After everyone boarded, the boats started moving on their own and soon Dudley saw a big castle coming their way. Harry was so excited he kept pulling Dudley's sleeve to show him, but, of course, he was already looking.

They arrived at the castle and a stern looking old woman led them through corridors to a small room and told them to wait there until they were called. Dudley, Harry, Ron and Neville were talking about how they thought they would get chosen to a House. Dudley hit his cousin lightly on the head to stop his fidgeting, to which he answered with a betrayed look, and told him to keep still. Dudley looked over to see what the other kids were doing. He saw Hermione sort of talking to herself and Uncle Sev's godson looking at them and turning back to keep talking to his friends.

The woman that led them inside came back telling them to enter after her. They entered a really big room with lots of people inside already seating on four different tables. _Must have a table for each House like Uncle Sev told us._ There was another table at the end with older people and Uncle Sev was there watching them. Dudley turned to show Harry their Uncle but he was looking up. Dudley did the same and saw the ceiling was the sky! Like the real sky! Clouds, stars and all! He heard Hermione's voice telling someone it was enchanted, she read it in _Hogwarts: A History._ They arrived at the front and after a strange hat finished singing, the old woman told them to go up the stool and place the hat over their heads once their name was called.

Dudley was the first from their group. As the Hat came down on his head, he heard a voice. _'Why, Mr Evans, I only expected one from your family today.'_

 _What does he mean by that?_ He thought wanting it to hurry up and choose his house.

 _'Oh, just that I didn't expect the Evans to produce another one with magic enough to come. Well, aside from your cousin, anyway. And yes I can see your thoughts and everything in your head. Now, let's see. Where to put you? Any suggestions?'_

 _'I think anything is fine. Uncle Sev told us that the House traits are not exclusive, so I'll still be me in any House, right?'_

 _'That is certainly right! Snape was always very clever and don't you worry, I'll not tell anyone you know each other. Now onto the choosing... I see you are quite daring and brave... Better be_ Gryffindor!" The House name was shouted and the hat was taken off his head. Dudley went straight to the bench near the wall so he could see his cousin and friends sorting.

* * *

Harry was nervous. He knew any House would be good but he didn't want to be alone. His cousin, Hermione and Neville were all in Gryffindor. The princ- Draco Malfoy had just been sorted into Slytherin. Now it was just Ron left from the people he knew, and Ron would go _after_ Harry. His turn came to seat at the stool and have the Sorting Hat on his head.

 _'What an interesting mind you have there, Harry Potter.'_

 _'You talk?'_

 _'Well, did you think I simply shouted the House name and sang a beautiful song?'_

 _'Maybe?'_

The Hat chuckled in his mind. _'Now, this will be one hard choice. Where to put you, hm? Let's see... You are curious and very intelligent. You seek knowledge but I see it is not a priority. You are rather loyal and hardworking, really kind too. Maybe you are fairer to those closer to you, though. Also quite daring and brave, but only when you think it's worth the risk. Oh!'_

 _'What?'_

 _'You want to prove yourself, make your Aunt Petunia and Uncle Sev proud.'_

 _'I do. I don't want them to stop liking me...'_

 _'I doubt they would ever stop loving you, especially your Uncle Sev.'_

 _'You think so?'_

 _'I know so! Now, your House. We've been here for a long time already. You would fit any House as you have traits of them all, but better be_ Slytherin!" Harry felt the shout and the Hat being pulled off his head. The hall was dead silent as he walked to the Slytherin table. Draco Malfoy made space next to him so Harry went straight there to where someone he knew was. After he sat, there was some clapping from his table and the Sorting went on. Harry looked over at the Gryffindor table smiling and waving at his cousin who was doing the same to him. They both turned back to their tables to talk to their new housemates.

"Who were you waving at?" A girl seated across him asked, she was sorted a little before him he remembered.

"To my cousin, Dudley. He was sorted into Gryffindor."

"You have a cousin? But your father was an only child!" She asked again. Somehow, Harry felt annoyed by her.

"He's from mum's side." He grumbled.

"Another mudblood then." She sneered.

"What? His blood is perfectly normal, red just like mine." He frowned. Harry knew she was insulting his cousin just from her tone but he didn't know what she meant.

"It's unbecoming to use such a word in public, Parkinson." Another girl scolded her. It seemed they all knew each other already.

"So the _Tiger_ is your cousin?" Draco Malfoy asked. He looked a bit curious.

"Yes! Uncle gave us our nicknames!"

"Those are beautiful ribbons you're wearing. Why five of them, though?" The same girl who scolded the Parkinson girl noticed them when Harry turned to answer Draco. _Would he mind if I call him that?_

"She's right. They are all different colours and one of them is multicoloured." Draco touched them and his hair making Harry blush a little.

"They were a birthday gift from our Healer. Four of them are coloured after the Hogwarts Houses' main colour. The other one actually changes colour to fit the ribbon it's accompanying. If it's alone it turns white, and it goes multicolour if it's with the others." He fidgeted a little before finishing. "I put all five because I didn't know which House I would end up in." He was looking down on the table when food simply appeared on it. Magic was really nice.

"They look cute on you, Harry." Draco told him smiling and Harry beamed at him.

"Thank you, ...Malfoy." Harry much preferred to be on the safe side than lose his first friend in his House, especially Uncle Sev's godson.

* * *

Draco didn't like his cute boy being all formal with him; it would mean Draco having to be formal back. Being formal would put too much distance between them and _that_ Draco wouldn't admit. "You may call me Draco, Harry."

"Thank you, Draco!" He beamed at him again and this time Draco was sure he started to melt. As one of the girls reminded them they should eat before Crabbe and Goyle ate all the feast away, Draco motioned for Harry to serve himself as well.

Harry was really a wonder. While most kids were piling only sweets and all sorts of unhealthy foods on their plates, he chose only two types of meat, the slices were a bit on the small side, some potatoes to accompany it along with a big serving of vegetables and salad. Draco decided to do the same so Harry wouldn't be the odd one out, his meats, however, were bigger slices. Desserts came and again he chose a simple serving of treacle tart. Draco wanted to only eat one like he did but ate three different types of desserts instead. He noticed Harry looking in the direction of the Gryffindor table again. "Worried for your cousin?"

"Not really. Was looking to see if Ron was there with him. I got distracted and didn't see his sorting." He was even cuter blushing like that. Draco preferred to ignore this _budding friendship_ with the Weasel in favour of observing Harry. He was now hiding behind his cup.

"You don't like pumpkin juice? There are other options besides water." He asked in a voice low enough so the talk would be restricted to the two of them.

"Oh. I never drank it before. Didn't want to take chances with my stomach." He blushed again. "And I usually drink water with dinner."

"You didn't eat much too. Well, except for salads and vegetables." Draco started to worry, his parents made him eat like that when he was sick.

"Our Healer said that eating this way would help recover faster." Harry hid again behind his cup and Draco noticed he didn't want to talk about that. Certainly, Draco would ask later when they were alone; if luck were on his side, they would be sharing a room for the next few years. Obviously, Draco could give Lady Luck a helping hand and change his roommate if necessary.

"Looking forward to classes tomorrow?" Draco received another beaming smile for changing the course of their conversation. He would end up addicted to them.

"I hope we have Potions! The books I read were... fascinating!" Harry had a satisfied face on. Draco couldn't even fathom why. He smiled at the boy since that was the class taught by his Papa and one Draco himself was looking forward to.

"I like potions as well." Draco would have said more but the food disappeared and the Headmaster started a speech. Draco ignored him completely to observe the other students and staff, and Harry who was avidly paying attention. Soon enough the Prefects led them down the dungeons to Slytherin.

The common room was just the way his parents described. Posh chairs, black leather couches, windows with a view of the Black Lake, the bottom of it that is, a fireplace... Despite being a bit less than what Draco was used to, it was still bearable. They were directed to their dormitories, where you had to share a room with up to two other people until the fourth year. Fifth years and above had a bedroom each to themselves, his Papa told him once it was to help them have more privacy to study. Thankfully, he didn't need to help Lady Luck as Harry was roomed with him and Blaise; poor Theodore Nott would share with Crabbe and Goyle.

"Wow!" Harry seemed impressed with the room.

"I hope next year we only get one roommate. This is too little for three people." The first night of the year and Blaise was whining already, though Draco could relate to his predicament. Harry made a face at Blaise and jumped on his bed praising its fluffiness. He was cute behaving as a little kid. Draco wondered how else he could be cute.

"Don't get too comfortable, Harry. We are to go back to the common room for the Head of House welcoming speech." Jumping up from the bed, Harry dashed outside with eagerness plastered on his face.

"You gotta admit, Draco. Surviving the Killing Curse messed with his mind." Blaise laughed leaving their room. Draco found Harry's behaviour endearing, still, he had to agree Harry needed to tone it down a little. He left the room to find Harry practically bouncing waiting for their Head of House, his anxiety clear for anyone to see. Draco held him by the shoulder with one hand and looked pointedly to him until he blushed and stopped acting like a child on his first Quidditch game. The wall opened to reveal his Papa entering and making the common room go silent with his mere presence.

"This is Slytherin House where the cunning, resourceful and ambitious dwell. As your Head of House, I expect not to be bothered by my colleagues due to any of you being caught in your moments of misbehaviour. My Slytherins are to maintain a strong and united front at all times when not inside these walls. Would you care to elaborate on that, Mr Flint?" Flint stiffened. By the looks sent his way, his Papa didn't usually make questions during his speech. Well, his Papa's silky voice Draco knew meant trouble was a huge hint.

"The other Houses have a lot of prejudice against us and tend to ostracise us. We should leave all rivalries to be solved inside the Slytherin Dungeon. The others are to think there are no problems between Slytherins. That will be reinforced by Slytherins helping each other outside this Dungeon."

His Papa nodded and continued his speech. "I would suggest to the first years not walk by yourselves as there is the possibility of an ambush. Do turn to a Prefect or older student for help with bullying and your studies if necessary. My office is always open to receive a Slytherin, do not abuse that privilege, as I am not your mother nor am I a Mind Healer.

"The Prefects have enough knowledge to deal with minor injuries in case you are not comfortable with going to the Hospital Wing. I am also available for that. That said, this year a few changes in our rules have to be observed. _Pranks_ and any action against a fellow housemate are to be restricted to the common areas, meaning the bedrooms are off limits. One Fourth Year will be responsible for adapting a group of first years, I expect volunteers by the end of breakfast tomorrow.

"For the general knowledge, a change in the division of the rooms were made. First year boys are separated in groups of three and girls in two people a room. Second, Third and Fourth years have two people a room. Fifth years and above have each their own room. Each years' three best students will be rewarded during the school year and after. Those rewards will be up on the bulletin board tomorrow after dinner.

"Finally, I expect your grades to be among the best students and far above Acceptable. Any questions?" His Papa surveyed the room with narrowed eyes daring anyone to ask. Obviously, Harry couldn't for the life of him read a mood correctly and put his hand up signalling he had one. "Yes, Mr Potter?"

"Can- May I bring my cousin or friends here?" Draco was beginning to think Harry actually knew how to use his looks and smiles to get his way with people. No one could make those puppy eyes without second intentions. Although his Papa seemed unaffected by them.

"After the adapting month if your grades are all EE's and O's. That is true to all Slytherins as well. Visitors will be only allowed if the visited student is the bearer of those grades. As well, no visitors allowed before October 1st. Any more questions?" This time no one dared. Papa was emitting enough menacing aura to kill the next person with a question. "Then have a good night and I expect to see you all at breakfast." He left with his robes billowing after him.

The other students started to mingle and discuss the changes. Draco had other plans. He dragged Harry back to their room to start his questioning. Harry went straight to his trunk once they were inside and took out a potion to drink. "What is that potion for?" Draco was now convinced something was wrong and Harry was sick, which worried Draco to no end.

Harry grimaced a little and looked over the room. Draco surmised he was either making sure no one else was there to listen or he was trying to find something to change the subject. From his squealing and rushing to his bed, he presumed it was the latter. When Draco got near, he saw Harry tearing apart the warping paper of a thin long box and taking a wand holster from the inside. Draco had to get a hold of himself and look away to keep from hugging the boy who was hugging his holster and rolling on his bed from one side to the other laughing the most delicious laugh Draco had ever heard. And yes, it was delicious _period._

"Oh. You have a package too." Harry seemed composed again. Draco looked over his bed and true to what the other boy said, a long and thin package with a note attached sat on his pillow. The note was from his Papa congratulating him on being sorted into Slytherin. Draco was glad and confused seeing he not only also received a wand holster but it was identical to Harry's; made of leather with a dark green hue. From the feel of the leather, he concluded it was dragon hide.

He turned back to Harry who was looking curiously at him and his present. Draco knew he had to start his questioning and that Harry would try to change the course of it whenever health was mentioned, so he conceded to leave that for another day and concentrated on getting to know him better, and his relationship with his Papa. "Seems like we got the same welcome gift. Who gave you yours?"

Harry was beaming and hugging the holster again. "My Uncle Sev!" Not a minute after he let go of his gift in favour of putting both hands over his mouth like he said something he wasn't supposed too. He looked on the verge of crying and so hurt Draco couldn't help but pick up the holster, seat next to him and pull him into an embrace. Harry lodged his head on the nook of his neck and Draco petted his head and made what he thought would be soothing circles on the boy's back. As he did that, Draco made sure to keep reassuring him that everything was just fine and he wouldn't tell anyone about him knowing _Uncle Sev_.

Draco could imagine their situations were a bit alike. Draco couldn't tell anyone Severus Snape was his Papa and had to call him Uncle Sev in front of others. Harry shouldn't know his Papa. Anyone would think it strange if a former Death Eater, even a spy, was called Uncle by The-Boy-Who-Lived. In the end, Draco's ministrations were so soothing to the boy he fell asleep. Draco took Harry's shoes and outer robes out and tucked him in. Seeing as the day was over for him he went to sleep as well.

* * *

Dudley was so tired from the day and chatting until late with his new dorm mates he almost missed the long and thin box waiting on his pillow. There was a note attached to it saying it was from Uncle Sev and congratulating him on getting into Gryffindor. Dudley knew Uncle Sev didn't care much for Gryffindors, so he was happy his sorting didn't make him automatically be hated.

Being hated by Professor Snape was a big no-no according to the older boys. His wrath was legendary and it seemed he especially liked to make the first years cry. Dudley better pair up with Hermione since she knew everything, he definitely didn't want to screw up and mark himself as a target to his famous vicious tongue. He should have done like Harry and bought something to appease the man. Maybe some of the sweets he bought on the train would do...

Dudley put his dark red leather wand holster on his right arm, together with his wand, and lulled himself to sleep with thoughts on how to get his friends and him on Uncle Sev's good side even being Gryffindors.

* * *

 **About James' will**. Let us put it like this: Someone was Harry's magical guardian and wasn't present in his life. They tried their best to do things in a way that wouldn't alert that person. Severus had a good guess on who it was and Ragnok knew for sure (and wasn't happy with his client not knowing anything). Add to the mixture the fact that Petunia was not likely to be in James' will as a possible guardian for Harry, or at least not as a first choice or second. Anyway, it was too much of a wild card for Severus to play at that time. In addition, the Potters were oldblood, very rich and very powerful; if the will wasn't read (and Ragnok wasn't pleased, meaning he didn't agree) it happened because of interference of the Ministry (I remind you here that this was a situation where they were dealing with goblins, thus they needed to be powerful enough to push). Who else had enough sway to lock away such an important will, name a "random" magical guardian and would still be notified on the off chance of someone trying to get it read? Better have everything set up before they go into the really troublesome parts. Finally, bear in mind that now Petunia treats her nephew right thus becoming an acceptable guardian. There's always a chance for guardianship to be contested and they want to play safe.


	12. 12 – Trying to make some Damage Control

**A/N:** I'm not dead, the story is not abandoned and I still love you guys. I needed time to organise a few things about the story to not make a mess later. (Some other plots were begging to be written as well). Sorry if this came out short e.e

 **Warning** : Organised chaos (aka head hopping) ahead. Read at your own risk.

* * *

12 – Trying to make some Damage Control

"Ah! Severus, my boy, come in!" Albus put his most inviting and cheerful voice to use and had the twinkling eyes ready to receive his Potions Master. No doubt, he knew why he was called to a meeting right after the Welcoming Feast. Leaving his put out feelings aside, for he didn't like being made to wait so long, he acted like his usual self. "Lemon drop?"

"No, thank you." His spy curt as always and with a permanent scowl planted on his face stood before him seemingly not wanting to sit. Well, this would be a long night so Albus found it in him to be ever so merciful and invited him to take a seat on one of the lush armchairs placed in front of his table. After a silent minute, he decided to be rather straight and blunt about his inquiries.

"I believe the sorting this year was quite interesting, don't you, my boy?" _So this is how the old fool wants to play. To think I could be doing something useful for instance sleeping..._ Severus swapped his scowl by a blank and almost pensive mask indulging himself in a few minutes to reminisce about the night. Obviously, the old fool wanted to know how he felt about Harry Potter being in his house. And just as obviously, Severus would bid his time and play around. If he knew the old fool well he would be here the whole night, so he might as well make it pleasurable - for him, of course.

"Now that you mention it, indeed it was." Albus was on the verge of casting a sticking charm on himself so he wouldn't bounce on his chair. He needed to play this right; the Potter brat should have gone to Gryffindor like his parents, now the only thing left to be done was damage control. He needed to guide this man on how to work around the boy. It was clear to all the staff that he would be in a dilemma between showing his hate for the Potters and spoiling his Slytherins. As of now, Albus was eagerly awaiting the man's input. "I confess myself quite intrigued with the Evans boy..."

Severus perfect blank and bored face didn't let through even an ounce of the pure glee he felt at the old codger's shocked and gaping expression. "Evans, Severus?"

"It certainly brought some memories back... A Gryffindor Evans, just like Lily. Makes one wonder if they are related..." Albus was gobsmacked, to say the least. Instead of commenting about the Potter brat, the man was stuck on some random boy. Although Albus had to agree it was an interesting observation, it was simply not possible for the boy to be related to _his precious Lily_ since he wasn't a Dursley and they were the only relation the woman had, alive at least.

"Well, maybe it would do to ask. Though I don't think it's such an uncommon name among muggles."

"Perhaps. I also felt quite puzzled by another of the Hat's choice." Finally, he was getting where Albus wanted him. If he wasn't so worth his time, Albus would have already dismissed the slippery Slytherin. "The Longbottom boy seemed rather spineless for a Gryffindor. Perhaps I'll be proven wrong in the near future."

"You seem to have paid closer attention to Gryffindor than to the other houses." After a few more minutes, the old man seemed to recover enough to make a comeback, but Severus was not through with his entertainment.

"I paid close attention to all sorting. I merely thought you would appreciate an earlier input about the house that usually causes the most... distress." Albus paid close attention as the man in front of him sipped at his cup of tea before continuing with his _input._ He had to somehow manipulate the man to treat the Potter brat his way. "I found it rather fascinating when twins are put in different houses, don't you?"

"Indeed. I also find it intriguing and always ask myself about a child's family and their usual house."

"Yes, most intriguing indeed. It was quite interesting to see the Hat shout Mr Malfoy's house after barely touching his head and to sort almost a whole generation of Weasleys into Gryffindor. I wonder what will be the sorting of the last of them..."

They both sat in silence enjoying their tea and nibbling at some of the treats, Albus did, for some time until Albus decided enough was enough and he needed his sleep. "How did you feel about young Mr Potter?"

"He's a selfish and spoiled brat who didn't know how lucky he was to have everything he wanted. I can only regret he is not alive for me to pay him back for everything he did." Severus snarled for good measure after pouring a ridiculous amount of venom into his words. If he were to put this onto a scale, he would say this would be a mild hateful statement. It would not do to make the old fool think he hated Potter more than anything for there was an alive person he was known to hate even more. Of course, Severus knew whom he was referring to but where was the fun in letting the old man have his way?

"You should let go of such old grudges, Severus." Albus gave the man a stern look. It was anyone's guess when his spy would learn to live with not being chosen by Lily. "And I meant the remaining Mr Potter, Harry Potter."

"I see. I believe I'll have to wait and see what comes of him." Severus calmly sipped at his second cup of tea, which was lasting even longer than the previous one, always bidding his time. "I'd rather not antagonise a Snake so soon as the motive would be rather obvious."

"Indeed. I hope you will give the boy a fair chance, however. I must remind you not to give the boy special treatment, Severus. I believe someone with a firm hand is needed to make an appearance in his life." There, Albus finally had his chance. Now on to sleeping.

"Indeed, Headmaster. I am ecstatic to see such willingness in shedding the grandfatherly ways in order to ensure the proper measures in educating the boy. I'll be sure to come to you in regards to applying a firmer hand with _him_." Severus set his cup down with still half of its contents intact and stood up bidding good night to a mostly disturbed Albus Dumbledore. Fortunately, Severus found himself well trained in hiding his mirth behind an impassive mask. He descended the steps towards the dungeons taking a rather long path; he knew he wouldn't be sleeping so he might as well put in some exercising before brewing. He also could use the time to think of a proper gift to ask of Lucius, he was always in a generous mood when trying to gain his favour.

* * *

"It's too early for a respectable wizard to be up."

"Stop complaining, Zabini. Of course, we should be up!" A bit more whining on Blaise's part and Draco would blow a fuse. Harry was closing off more and more with the whining, he thought it was his fault for waking them up because of a nightmare. When Draco woke up, he heard some whimpers from Harry's bed thus learning of him having a nightmare. Draco told him to go take a shower and change for the day and on his way he tripped letting out a cute squeaky sound, at the same time Blaise woke up and started grumbling like the old man he was.

"There you are!" A girl sprinted from a couch to them at a speed that shouldn't be possible as they entered the common room. "I'm Carina Hunter and I won you in the lottery!" She thrust her hand forward expecting something.

"Excuse me?" Draco and Blaise said in unison while Harry just gaped at the girl.

"Potter, close your mouth! It's unbecoming!" Parkinson barked as she passed by into the room.

Harry snapped his mouth shut with a clicking sound from his teeth coming together too fast and glared in her direction. He really didn't like her. The other girls were nice enough but Parkinson liked to go out of her way to make him feel bad, and they only knew each other for less than a day! He felt Draco's hand slide into his and give a little squeeze, so Harry turned to him with a small reassuring smile to say he was alright, even if he wasn't so when he woke up.

The Carina girl was still there, hand out, waiting for someone to take it, so Harry saw upon him to do just that. Which seemed to offend Draco in some way since he just glared at their handshake and walked away. He tried to go after him but the girl got a hold of him and Zabini. She was saying something about adapting them to the school and the house while taking them up for breakfast. Harry slipped away to go see his Uncle Sev, Draco told him earlier how to get there.

Harry didn't even touch the door before he heard his Uncle's voice telling him to come in and the door open by itself! Magic was awesome like that!

* * *

Trouble already? They were not in the castle for even a full day and already his Raven needed him. He would need to work on that, it would not do for them to be so dependent.

"Good morning, Raven." He beckoned him closer. He could indulge him this time and give him a hug.

Not needing to be told twice, Harry launched his little body into his uncle almost tackling him to the ground. "Good morning, Uncle Sev." He smiled up at him and before he could ask anything, he handed the cauldron cake and left or the great hall. He had to get there fast before Draco got angrier. He didn't even know what he was angry for!

Well, that was unexpected. Severus sat down on his preferred chair and indulged in the treat he was gifted. It sure had been a long while since he ate one of those.


End file.
